The Transfer Student
by haertbrkwarfare
Summary: Sirius Black& OC. Full description is in the chapter called "Introduction"
1. Introduction

The Transfer Student

A story...

Written by: SuperDuperDork

Starring:

- Sirius Black (DNO)

- James Potter (DNO)

- Lily Evan (DNO)

- Tami Valentine (owns)

- Ricky VanBuuren (owns)

- Peter Petigrew (DNO)

- Remus Lupin (DNO)

- Sally Adams (owns)

- And many other non-important characters.

About:

Sirius Black isn't the kind to keep a promise. He's never been

truly honest with a girl. He lies to his teachers all the time, to get out

of doing class work. He even lies to his friends sometimes to keep

things hidden. But there's one promise he's been keeping for years.

When the new girl comes, can he keep that promise? Or will everything he

built up come crashing down?


	2. This Was a First

**'This Was a First'**

I expected everyone to be scared of me. That's always how it happened. No one wanted to be friends with me unless they were from Dark families, they had no idea who I was or they were just plain idiots.

I didn't have to work hard to keep up my reputation up as a bad boy. It came easily to me. My parents thought I was a waste of space, because I wasn't mentally deranged and evil like my precious little brother, Regulus. I wasn't a muggle hater, which meant that I didn't deserve to live.

Well, that was my parents' point of view.

"SIRIUS BLACK, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

My darling mother. I walked silently towards the pig and stopped at least a foot away from her.

"You better not get yourself into any trouble because we no longer have the patience or money -"

Hah, yeah right! I smirked.

"- to deal with your silly pranks. And if you do cause any chaos you know what'll happen. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, then turned and walked towards the train. When I was a good distance away from my mother, I turned to face the bustling crowd of witches and wizards.

"Hear ye, hear ye" I shouted into the crowd, causing a fair amount of people to look at me. Then I turned and mooned the whole lot of them.

The expression on my mother's face was priceless. I jumped onto the train and began looking for a compartment to sit in.

"Hey"

I turned around. Was he talking to me?

"Hey"

"Couldn't help but see your little platform show"

"It was so cool!" Someone squeaked from behind the dark-haired boy.

"Oh, hey Peter" the boy said un-enthusiastically.

"My name's James Potter, by the way" he offered me his hand. I hesitated in taking it. There was a 99.9 percent chance that he wasn't going to be my friend, if he knew I was a Black. Maybe if I lied.

"My name is -"

"Hey look, it's Sirius"

I knew that voice. That couldn't be anyone else but ...

"Lucius" I turned to face Lucius and his Slytherin buddies.

"Hey Sirius, what're you doing talking to these -"

"Don't say it" I growled. If there was one thing I couldn't stand it was discriminating names.

"Say what? Mud-blood?" Lucius smirked.

"You don't deserve to be a pure-blood, Black" Avery spat. They walked away, snickering.

Sometimes, I wish the Cruciatus Curse wasn't an unforgivable curse.

"Black?" James asked. He didn't look scared like most people usually did. He looked curious.

"Yeah, my name's Sirius Black" I said quietly.

I heard Peter whimper.

"Shut up, Peter" James said. "That's freakin' awesome" he told me.

This was a first.

"You seem all right, mate. Honestly, I couldn't care less who your family is"

"Really?"

This was bizarre. Did I land in an alternate universe?

"Yup. The second I saw you moon the platform, I knew you were a cool guy"

I grinned.

James opened the door of yet another train compartment. This one was empty except for two people; a boy and a girl.

"Mind if we join you?" I asked the boy boldly.

"Don't mind at all" he said. The girl just ignored us. Her red hair covered her face but I could've sworn se was crying. I decided it was better just to ignore her back.

"Name's James, that's Peter and this here is Sirius" I nodded my head slightly at the boy.

"Aren't you the one who mooned the train station?" He asked.

A grin formed on my face and on James', too.

"Why, yes I am!" I threw my rucksack on the top and sat down across from the boy.

"My name's Remus" he added.

"Nice to meet you" James threw his stuff up too and Peter followed suit.

I never thought I'd be able to make friends with people who were not from Dark families. These three guys were probably the best thing that could ever happen to me. How I spent the whole of my life without a friend like James was a mystery to me. We liked the same things! We both loved Quiditch, we both loved pranking people and we both hated Slytherins.

The compartment door opened and in walked a greasy-haired, hooked-nose freak. We ignored him, though. He sat across from the girl and began talking to her.

James began a story about how he tricked his cousin into running around the block five times with his underwear on. It was a very entertaining story, and it took my mind off of the freak.

_"You'd better be in Slytherin"_ the word brought all four of us back to the present.

_"Slytherin?" James looked around at the word. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James asked me._

I could tell from the beginning that James didn't know much about my family. His parents definitely never gave him warnings to stay away from people like me. I wasn't afraid to tell them about myself anymore.

_"My whole family's been in Slytherin"_

_"Blimey" James looked surprised, "and I thought you seemed all right"_

I grinned. James grinned back.

_"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading if you've got the choice?" I asked. James pretended to be holding a sword._

_"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Like my dad"_

The freak made an exasperated noise. James turned on him.

_"Got a problem with that?"_

_"No" said the freak. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."_

Who did this guy think he was?

_'Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither" I interjected._

James laughed. Remus gave a weak smile. Peter only laughed 'cause James was doing so; I could tell.

_"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment" the girl finally said._

_"Ooooo..." James and I imitated her lofty voice._

_"See ya, Snivellus" James shouted, and the compartment door closed._

"Who cares who they were?" James asked me. I shrugged. I finally had the confidence to voice that question.

"The boy was Severus Snape. Got no idea who the girl was" Remus told me.

"I must admit, though, that girl was pretty good looking" James said.

I shrugged. I wasn't that interested in girls.

"If she's friends with that piece of snot, then I won't waste my time" he added quickly.

"Agreed, mate" I answered.

The train screeched to a halt. If Remus hadn't been with us, we probably would've forgotten to change into our school robes.

We opened the compartment door, walked down the hallway, and stepped out of the train. I could see the Hogwarts castle in the distance.

The one thing I'd been waiting to happen for years.


	3. Time Passes By

**'Time Passes By'**

"This is creepy" I heard the red-haired girl say behind me.

"It's not creepy! This is awesome! We're at Hogwarts" the freak answered.

"I'll admit, this is cool. This castle and everything, but I'm still scared"

"There's no reason to be scared"

"There is if you're standing with a freak like him" I whispered to James, who was standing next to me. He snorted loudly and I smirked.

The freak fell silent.

"Severus, don't listen to them. They're just -"

"Just what?" James turned around and glared at the red-haired girl.

"Just... just.." she turned back to the freak. "Just ignore them"

"Black, Sirius"

Here we go.

I was too surprised to say anything. There was red everywhere, all over the place. It surrounded me and I never felt happier in my life.

This felt like home.

"Honestly, who thought we'd all be in the same house?" James asked.

I couldn't answer. I was too surprised.

"Hey Sirius, you okay?"MY focus fell on a concerned Remus.

"I'm not in Slytherin" was all I could manage to say.

James laughed. Remus and Peter grinned and I felt myself smile. "Thank god for that, too" James told me.

Things pass by so fast when I'm with James and the others. I was a different person now. Unbelievably, I used to be the loud, un-caring kid that everyone was afraid of. Now, I was the loud, incredibly-loved, funny guy that every girl wanted.

I'm not trying to boast.

...

...

...

THEY LOVE ME! Can't deny the truth.

Everywhere I go, there are girls following me. They hide behind bookshelves (whenever I'm forced to step a foot into the library. When I walk through the halls, they stand in groups, giggling and glancing at me every few seconds. The only place they don't follow me is the boy's bathroom and the boy's dormitory.

I was never popular in the past, so I wasn't sure if this was popularity or not. But, if it just happened to be, I love it.

"Sirius Black" I looked up from my breakfast. James was sitting across from me, glaring, with his arms crossed.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Please tell me that the stories going around about you rejecting Sally Adams is a rumor!"

"Sally Adams?" I asked thoughtfully, chewing on my cereal. James nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, I rejected her. So what? I've rejected millions of girls in the past few months. I don't date; I've told you that"

"Oh come on, Sirius. I knew we're only eleven but who cares? The whole girl population of first years, and a few second years, are dying to date you! At least have some fun with it!"

"Fun?"

What did he mean?

"What do you mean fun?"

"You don't have to like the girls you date!" He hinted.

I pondered this idea while eating my cereal. IT would be fun dating someone you didn't actually like.

"I'll do it" I whispered to James during Transfiguration.

He grinned mischievously. "Awesome!"


	4. The Plan Backfires

**'The Plan Backfires'**

"This is the plan: You go to her when she's alone. Most likely when she's studying in the library or something like that. Then, you say something sappy and sweet to her about how you just realized how beautiful she is or something. Then the traps set!" James whispered to me over dinner.

He was very good at planning these things.

"How about I say 'Sally, ever since that day you asked me out, I've been thinking non-stop about you. I was afraid a relationship would come in between me and my friends but now I've realized that it doesn't matter what they think. You're the only one that's important to me'?"

James stared at me as if he had only just realized I was there. "Are you sure you haven't done this in the past?"

I nodded my head.

"You're awesome at the sappy stuff" he said, grinning mischievously again.

"Hey Sally" Sally flipped her blonde hair out of her face and looked up at me.

"What, Black?" Looks like she still hadn't forgiven me.

"I need to talk to you"

"All right, spit it out. I don't have all day"

"All night, you mean" I smiled at my corny, little joke.

"God" and she looked back down at her book. I sat down across from her and pulled the book out of her sight. I kept it in my lap so she couldn't grab it back.

"What?" She looked livid.

"That day you asked me out – "

"I'd rather not relive it"

"Just listen to me!" She was starting to make me mad. "That day, I said no for a reason. It wasn't because I don't like you. Ever since that day you asked me out, I've been thinking non-stop about you. I was afraid a relationship would come in between me and my friends but now I've realized that it doesn't matter what they think. You're the only one that's important to me"

She stared at me silently. "Really?"

"Yeah" I smiled and looked down at the book in my lap. This actually worked! Wait until I told James what happened. He would be thrilled.

Three horrible weeks later:

"James, this was a bad idea" James and I were sitting in detention. We were in different rooms, but we could still communicate through special mirrors I nicked from my mother during Christmas break. Don't ask me why I went there for Christmas break. Some thing must've been wrong with my brain at the moment.

"What do you mean it was a bad idea? It wasn't a bad idea at all! She's totally in love with you"

"That's the problem, mate" I groaned.

"Okay, okay. I agree, she's a lot to handle, but it's worth it, trust me"

"Did you see what she got me for Christmas?" I asked, annoyed.

"No, what was it?"

"It was a heart shaped pillow that said 'I Wuv You!'" I rolled my eyes.

James laughed. "She could've at least waited until Valentines Day"

I gave him a look. James stopped laughing, but I could tell he was trying very hard not to burst out.

"Oh, just let it out" James did and I ended up smiling although I was very annoyed with even the thought of that pillow. Suddenly, James stopped laughing.

"Got to go, the cat's back"

"Tell her I said hi" I smirked at the brilliance of this last minute trick.

"Will do" and then James disappeared. I was left on my own.

"James, I've never been more serious in my life!" His eyes were filled with amusement. "How can you find this funny?" I exclaimed angrily.

"Calm down, mate. I can see this is bothering you very much – "

"She's driving me crazy!" I shouted. People turned to look at me but I didn't care.

"Just let it go, James" Remus said quietly. He wasn't actually paying much attention to our conversation, but I guess he could tell I was distressed.

"I can't deal with this anymore. Whenever I'm with her, I feel bored and annoyed and cranky. And when we hang out, all she ever wants to do is talk. That's all we ever do!"

"I can see why that part's annoying" James grinned.

I shook my head. "When she sees random girls saying hi to me and me answering back, she gets mad at me. When I don't immediately try to make her happy again, she gets even madder. Honestly, it's not my fault those girls follow me!"

"Then why don't you dump her?" Peter asked. He had been watching James and I argue ever since we had reached the common room, but he hadn't said a word that whole time.

"I can't just dump her… can I?"

"No, you can't. That would be a horrible thing to do, Sirius" Remus said, finally looking up from his essay. "If you break up with her without an explanation, she'll be so hurt. You have to explain everything to her and maybe you guys can work something out"

"What am I supposed to explain to her?" They were all just crazy. "'Hey Sally, I need to tell you that James asked me to go out with you, not because I like you. Only because James wanted me to 'experiment' with girls '"

"Don't bring me into the explanation. You'll ruin my chances with her!"

"James!" Remus scolded, even though he had a slight smile on his face. "You're right, you can't actually tell her the truth but you – " Remus suddenly stopped talking. He was staring at something behind me and James. We both turned and saw the red-haired girl glaring at us.

"I knew you guys were pigs. I never knew you'd stoop down that low!"

"That's only the beginning, love" I said. James snickered.

The girl's glare became even fiercer, if that's possible. "Well, I hope you two know that I'm going to tell Sally all about your little plan" then she stalked off.

"We've got to catch her" James stood up and so did I. We ran towards her and got hold of her arms, then we dragged her back to out spot. She protested loudly, which made everyone in the room watch our struggle. We were finally able to sit her down in an armchair and begin talking.

"How much did you hear?" James asked her.

"All of it. How you told him to ask out Sally and how you did and how you just told him that he should experiment with her when he didn't even really like her! Do you know how hurt she'll be, whether or not you tell her the absolute truth?"

"Yes, yes… what's your name again?" James gave me an exasperated look. "What?" I said to his look. "We need to know who we're talking to. It doesn't work if you have no idea who the person is"

"Lily" she said. She didn't take her eyes off of us.

…

Well, her glare off of us.

"Point is, you can't tell Sally any of this!" I said to Lily. "I swear I'll tell her all of this myself. I never meant to hurt her – "

"That's believable" Lily scoffed. "You guys are pigs who are oblivious to anyone's feelings but your own. And the fact that you 'didn't mean' to hurt her… I just can't believe" Lily stood up and tried to walk past us, but I caught hold of her arm before she could leave.

"Please, Lily. Don't tell her any of this? Please" Lily stared at me. Her eyes showed she was fighting a battle in her brain.

"Fine, but you're going to tell her everything and you're going to tell her tomorrow, and if you don't I will" she pulled her arm out of my grip and stalked away.

"She's a feisty one, isn't she?" James asked. "It's almost funny…" he said thoughtfully.

"If she stays quiet, I promise I will never say a bad word about her or to her again"

James looked at me like I was crazy. "Blimey"


	5. Stop Being Such a Girl

'**Stop Being Such a Girl'**

"You can do this, Sirius. Just take a deep breathe and relax"

"Yeah, as long as you're honest with her, I guarantee you won't get _that_ badly hurt. Maybe some damage to your foot, but nothing will be permanent"

"James!"

"What?"

I wasn't listening to either of them. I was thinking about how stupid I had been in the first place, trusting James' little plan. This was really the hardest thing I had to do, ever, in my entire life. How was I supposed to tell her the whole truth and that I didn't like her without permanently hurting her feelings? This just wasn't going to work. I couldn't do it. I should just let Lily take care of this. At least I wouldn't have to deal with the anger and pain immediately. Maybe I could hide somewhere until Sally cooled down?

"Sirius, are you okay?" Remus asked me, ignoring the exasperated looks James was giving both of us. "It's the right thing to do, and you know it"

"I know, I know" I answered. "I just can't help feeling like this whole thing was a huge mistake"

"It was a huge mistake…" Remus said, glaring at James.

"Okay, I get it. You're blaming all of this on me, but he was the one who listened to me!"

"That's true" Remus reasoned.

"Can we just get this over with?" I asked before Remus could start grilling me, too.

"Go, then" James pushed me through the doors. I took another deep breathe and continued walking towards the Ravenclaw table. I was very grateful that she wasn't in my house.

"Hey… Sally"

Sally turned around, smiling. But her smile disappeared when she saw my nervous, serious face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I need… to talk to you…"

"Okay…"

"Alone"

"Oh, right" She stood up. I made my way back to the corridor outside the Great Hall. When we reached, I turned to face her again.

"What's wrong?" She asked again.

"I lied to you" it just sort of blurted out.

"Oh, I know…"

"You _know_?" If she knew, why wasn't I dead yet? Why wasn't I cut to pieces like any other girl would've done to me? Unless, she never liked me, just like I didn't like her! Had _she_ been playing _me_? And, how could she have known? Who could've told her?

I immediately thought of Lily. But, Lily had only found out about this yesterday. There wasn't enough time for Lily to explain to Sally everything, and then Sally make up some brilliant plan to play me back.

… Right?

"Are you okay, Sirius? You don't have to be nervous about it. My friend told me that she saw you and your friends drinking beer the other day, even though you told me that you didn't drink. Surprisingly, I'm okay with the whole beer thing. I'd like to try some too, one day"

"What?" Now she had seriously confused me. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't that what you're talking about? You said you lied to me. That's what it was about, right? The beer?"

The beer! I had almost forgotten that I told her that. I didn't actually drink beer, it wasn't a lie. But, James got a sixth year to get some for us when they went to Hogsmede. He had been so excited at the thought of getting drunk. That had actually been my first time ever drinking.

"No… that's not what the lie's about" I said quietly. Why was this so hard? Why did she have to stare at me with those blue eyes? Why wasn't I allowed to lie to her?

How I hated Lily now.

"What is it about?" Her voice wasn't friendly anymore. She had become almost as serious as I was.

"I don't really… like… I don't… It's all James' fault!"

"What's James' fault?"

"He got mad at me one day because I rejected you, and when I told him I wasn't into girls, he told me I could at least have some fun with it. And I know I'm an idiot for listening to him in the first place, but it seemed like a good idea then…"

"Have some fun… you mean… all this time…" tears started sliding down her face. I put my hands over my face so I could block the image before me. "You never really liked me" she finally choked out.

When I opened my eyes again, she was gone. I guess I didn't notice her run up the winding staircase, and out of sight.

I really hated myself right now.

--

"This is your fault, James"

'I know, but what am I supposed to do? I can't make him happy again! He never really liked Sally, so bringing her back wouldn't work! What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, but do something fast. I think he might just die if he stays in bed any longer"

I heard James approach my bed. He slapped the back of my head. "Get up, mate. We've got exploring to do"

"Not now" I groaned. I pulled the covers over myself.

"Come on, Sirius. You can't just stay up here forever. It's not like Sally's out to kill you or something. She was actually perfectly fine this morning at breakfast. She didn't look hurt at all"

"Except for the tears that kept running down her face" Peter added.

"Shut up, Pete" James snarled. "Just get up. We have a lot of work to do. I heard some of the fourth years talking about a vanishing room and I really want to figure out what that's all about. You're my first choice at a sneaking-around partner"

"I don't want to" I mumbled into my pillow.

"Stop being such a girl, Sirius"

I got up into a sitting position and glared at James. "I. Am. Not. A. Girl" I said angrily.

"Then get up, and lets do some man stuff!" James said enthusiastically.

There was no arguing with him once he had his mind made up.


	6. New& Better Plans

**'New& Better Plans'**

Last night's exploring was exciting, but it wasn't exciting enough to take my mind off of Sally. I still felt really bad and I didn't know why. James didn't notice my mood; because he was too busy trying to figure out the Vanishing room. We didn't actually find a Vanishing room, but it didn't really matter to me. James took it hard.

Days passed by and eventually I forgot all about Sally. Nothing interesting happened to me; everything was pretty much the same.

Except for the fact that I had a new girlfriend, and this time my feelings were equivalent to hers. We both liked each other a lot.

Or so I though.

I wasn't aware that it was Valentines Day until I saw James holding a gift-wrapped box and bouquet of flowers.

"What's that for?" I asked him as I figured out how my hair would look the best.

"Today's Valentines Day" he said, smirking because he knew that I had forgotten.

"Today?" James' smirk grew even wider. "It can't be today"

"It is" he said. Then he walked out of the dormitory. I stood there, frantically thinking of something I had that I could give to Alice so she wouldn't notice I had completely forgotten every girl's favorite holiday. I ran to my rucksack and began throwing things this way and that way. I heard the dormitory door open and a voice said;

"Forgot Valentines Day?"

I looked up at Remus. "What am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. Is there anything in your rucksack?" There was a smile on his lips. He sat down on his bed and watched me continue searching.

"Nothing" I said after a few minutes. "Nothing at all! What do I do, Remus?"

Remus sat there quietly, trying to think of some way I could save this. "Well, you could start with flowers" he waved his wand and a bunch of flowers appeared on the bed in front of me.

I stood up and grabbed them. I knew there was more to Remus' plan. "And…" he got up and went to his own rucksack. He rummaged for a little bit and then stood up again. He walked over to me and handed me a large bar of Honeyduke's best chocolate.

"Where did you get this?" I asked. We were still first years, which meant we weren't allowed to go to Hogsmede. How could he have gotten chocolate from there?

"Asked a fourth year" he said, shrugging. "Now, go before Alice blows her top"

I nodded. "Thanks" and then I ran down the stairs.

"Happy Valentines Day" I said, smiling, as I handed Alice the flowers and the chocolate. She smiled back at me.

"Thank you" she said, and then she kissed me lightly on the lips. She took a few sniffs from the flowers. I looked away from her so I could breathe again. I had ran out of the dormitory and hadn't stopped until I reached the Great Hall's entrance, where Alice was standing and waiting for me.

What she said next made me stop breathing completely.

"Sirius, you've been played"

I looked at her and saw she was smiling, but it wasn't a good smile. It was an evil, twisted, horrible smile. The next thing I knew, Sally was standing next to Alice, smiling also.

"It seems like you've met my best friend, Sirius" she said.

"Cut the crap" I growled. I hadn't even noticed the anger taking over my body.

"Do you understand what it feels like now? How does it feel, Sirius; how does it feel to be played?" She smirked. "Does it hurt?"

That was all I could take. I slammed my hand on the table and got up. I didn't care about all the people watching me.

"Why would it hurt? First off, you're a horrible kisser. So are you" I pointed at Alice and then at Sally. "Valentines Day is the stupidest holiday ever created, and that's probably why I didn't remember it today. Those flowers" I pointed at the flowers and both girls' eyes followed. "Yeah, they're not real. They were produced by magic. And the chocolate, I'll take that back" I grabbed it from Alice's hands. "You don't deserve it, and it's Remus' so I'll be taking it back. Thank you very much"

They were both too shocked to say anything. The whole school was watching, some people were laughing but I had a feeling they weren't laughing at me.

"Just so you guys know, you've helped me realize that girl's shouldn't be taken seriously. Especially not time-wasters like you"

I had never been so angry in my life.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sirius?"

"Yeah he is; it's not like he's sulking. He's normal" I didn't bother to answer when I heard James immediately jump to do the honors.

"Except for the burst of wildness" Remus added.

James snickered. "But that's just made everything a whole lot fun"

"And a lot more dangerous! You guys have never had this many detentions before"

"Calm down, Remus. It's not that big of a deal. A few detentions here and there aren't going to kill us"

"That's what you think" Remus answered quietly. I heard him, though, and so did James.

"You're okay, right mate?" James asked me.

I nodded. Then I smirked. "I will be once this plan is finished" I answered.

"Absolutely" James peered down onto the piece of parchment I was writing on. I had drawn out every detail; we were going to mess with the little freak, and it was going to be hilarious.

"How many people are in on it?" James asked.

"No one yet. Here's the list of people that are going to be in on it. Don't worry; it doesn't include you, Remus"

"Good"

"How much trouble do you think we'll get in?" James asked me.

"Loads, if we're lucky, and there might even be a way to get Snivellus in trouble, too!"

"Then we could freak him out during detention!"

"Isn't it brilliant?" I exclaimed, grinning.

"Yeah!" James exclaimed back.

"Would you guys shut it! I'm trying to work here" a voice said out of nowhere. I looked behind me to see Lily. She was holding a quill in a position which made it look like she was about to stab us. I bet she would if we didn't listen to her, but I wasn't scared of her.

"Just go find some other place, Evans" James said.

"Why don't you guys find another place to act like idiots"

"Why don't I stuff that quill –"

"James, lets just go" Remus said quietly. I stood up with the rest of the guys and walked away. I didn't really like talking to Lily. She was so dry, so boring. She didn't know how to just let go and have fun. James agreed with me, but he seemed to have gone the extra mile. He seemed to hate her.

"I wish she'd go die in a bathroom, like Moaning Myrtle" James murmured loud enough for only me to hear.

I snorted. "That would be truly wonderful"


	7. Bucket of Sludge

**'Bucket of Sludge'**

It had taken almost all morning getting ready for our big plan. James wanted to make the whole thing more complicated, but I told him no. We already had so much on our hands; how could he have expected us to take more. Plus, I was the one who did all the work. James wouldn't wake up.

"Are you sure you guys want to do this?" Remus asked us, as he helped me carry the bucket through the hallway. He had offered to come with me since James was too lazy to leave his bed. I had tried to convince Remus to come with me without the cloak on, but he thought we'd be seen. I doubted it; it was 6 o'clock in the morning after all. Even the teacher's didn't wake up this early.

"Of course we want to do this!" I said quietly, even though there was no one around. "We've been waiting so long to mess with Snivellus. Why won't you just let us have our fun?"

"'Cause the whole thing's a bad idea. If you get caught, my neck will be dead too"

"Then why did you offer to carry the bucket with me?"

"You guys are still my friends, even if you are idiots"

"Thanks, Remus" I said. He smiled and I smiled too.

When we finally reached the Potions classroom, we put the bucket down. Remus leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breathe. I took out my trusty pocket-knife and opened the lock of the classroom door. We dragged the bucket into the room.

"So what's the plan?" Remus asked me.

"We hide the bucket under here" I put it under a desk, so that no one would see it.

"And then?"

"Then, when Snivellus takes his seat, and Professor Slughorn's not looking, I'll make the bucket pour its contents all over Snivellus"

Remus shook his head, but said nothing. We stepped out of the room and locked the door again. Then we made our way, silently, back to Gryffindor tower.

--

"Sorry, Professor" I gasped once I ran into the Potions classroom. I hadn't noticed how tired I really was until I reached the dormitory. The second I hit the bed, I was fast asleep. No one had bothered to wake me up. I think that was James' idea of a joke, since he was snickering and looking at me at the moment.

"You're late, Sirius" Slughorn said. He wasn't the kind of teacher to give detentions unless they were really needed. I would probably need one by the end of the class. "Take a seat" then he turned back to the board.

I sat down next to James and then slapped him on the back of his head.

"What was that for?" James asked me. He was still grinning though.

"You could've woken me up" I said, pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill to make it seem like I was doing work.

"Nah, I thought it'd be more fun watching you race into the classroom late. Have you seen your hair?" He laughed.

"No, I had no time, thanks to you"

"Well, sorry mate. I guess I forgot to wake you up"

"You guess" I said sarcastically.

"When are we going to follow the plan through?" James whispered to me. I could've sworn Lily had stopped writing right when James said that.

_Later._

James looked down at what I wrote and gave me a confused look.

_She's listening._

Then I made an arrow pointing up; pointing to Lily, who was sitting in front of me. James looked at the back of her head, nodded to me, and then raised his hand.

James never answered a question, but I had a feeling he was going to do something.

"Yes, Mr. Potter? Do you know the answer?"

"No, but I think Ms. Evans might know and I think she might be telling her friend here" James smirked at Lily when she turned and gave him a death glare.

"Mr. Potter, can I please ask you to mind your own business. And Ms. Evans, _do_ you know the answer?"

"No, sir" Lily said quietly.

"Then can I ask you not to talk during my class"

"Yes, sir"

When Slughorn turned back to the board, Lily threw a paper ball at James' face.

"You better watch it" he growled at her as the paper ball fell to the ground.

"I'm not scared of you" she whispered angrily.

I don't know why, but I felt uneasy when they fought like that. "Come on, mate, let's do this"

"I'll distract" he whispered to me. James took his wand and pointed it at the board. All the words mixed themselves up. "Sir, what does the third sentence say?" James asked innocently, pretending to actually take notes.

Slughorn turned around to recite what was on the board, but immediately saw all the errors. It didn't seem like he was going to face the class again for a while.

I didn't stop to watch Slughorn explain what was happening to his chalkboard. I took my own wand out and focused it on the bucket under the desk. I made it hover high into the air, then made it move silently and slowly towards Snivellus, sitting in the third row. No one seemed to be paying attention to the bucket hovering a few feet up in the air. Everyone was watching James' prank on Slughorn. I needed a countdown.

5

No one was watching. I should just pour the stuff on his stupid head. No, no, anticipation makes everything a whole lot better.

4

Anticipation is good.

3

I needed a perfect moment, too.

2

Oh forget perfect moments! No, no… don't forget about _anticipation._

1

Anticipation is always worth it.

0

I watched happily as the contents of the bucket fell through the air. I wasn't sure what it was so I couldn't really give it a name.

SPLAT

All the girls around him screamed, all the guys had disgusted faces, but the worse had happened to Snivellus. Slughorn turned around and stared, shocked, at the scene before him. James was laughing so hard, he had fallen out of his chair. I wasn't much of a laugher, so I just sat there smiling. Remus was trying to act mature, but I could see a smile on his face too. Everyone that the sludge hadn't reached was laughing like crazy, and they were all laughing at Snivellus.

"Who did this?" Slughorn roared. He did not seem happy.

"I have a reason to believe it was Potter and Black" a voice said. I didn't even care that I was about to get in trouble. All the trouble in the world was worth seeing the expression on Snivellus' face when the sludge splattered him.

James and I grinned at each other.

"Two way ticket to detention, please" James whispered. I grinned and faced Slughorn to receive my punishment.


	8. Never Again

**'Never Again'**

I used to think walking down the hallways was hard before, with all the girls staring at me or trying to make me notice them. Now things were even worse. Everywhere I went, there were either Gryffindors patting my back and telling me how great my prank was, or Slytherins trying to get me back for what I did to Snivellus. None of them were successful so far; mostly because my fellow Gryffindor classmates kept ruining it for them.

And now there were even more girls trying to get my attention. I almost wished I was invisible.

"Potter, Black" Lily stood in our path, blocking us from the Transfiguration classroom.

"Evans" James answered, but he didn't pay attention to her after that. He just chatted with other people, waiting for Lily to move out of our way.

"You'll be late if you ignore me anymore"

"If we're late, that means you'll be late, too, and everyone knows you're never late"

"I'm willing to be late for this" she hissed angrily. James just rolled his eyes.

"What do you want then?"

"Do you guys know you're both really big arses"

"That's what you think" I answered.

"No, that's what I know. I don't know what makes you think you have the right to mess around with Severus – "

"Who's Severus?"

I tried very hard to hide the smile on my face.

"You know who Severus is!"

"Nope, sorry; I've never heard of anyone with that name. How about you, Sirius?"

"Not that I can recall"

"You guys are – "

"Arses, we know"

The halls began to clear out as classes began. It looked like we really were going to be late, and Lily along with us.

"Just listen to this; if you bother Severus anymore you'll have to answer to me"

"We're totally scared" James answered, and then he deliberately pushed past Lily. I stayed back.

"_Severus_ deserves everything we give him" I said. I walked into Transfiguration, too. Lily followed a few minutes later.

Of course, she didn't get detention. The teacher's pets never do.

--

"She's deranged or something. What makes her think we're going to listen? Seriously; not messing with Snivellus is like not breathing"

"I agree, but it's not like we have to listen to her. What's she going to do to us?"

"Not sure. The only thing she's good at is Potions. She couldn't even turn us into a rat if she wanted to"

"Why are we even worrying?" I exclaimed. "We'll just lay off her boyfriend for a little while and then bring things back with a huge and evil plan!"

James grinned. "It'll be great"

--

Remus forced me to join him in the library. I think he felt I was getting in trouble too much, so he wanted me to do schoolwork. Like that would stop me from being myself. I couldn't concentrate and I ended up distracting Remus, too. Eventually, he stood up and told me he was going to go get some more books. I nodded my head, not paying attention. I was thinking about this girl I had seen during lunch. She was Ravenclaw; smart, pretty and she had a sense of humor… or so I heard.

"Hi, Sirius" a soft voice said. I stopped trying to charm my quill and looked up. Sally was standing in front of me, not smiling, but not looking angry either.

"What?" I snapped. I didn't mean to snap, but how could I trust her after everything that had happened. I could barely be nice to her anymore.

"I want to talk to you"

"I don't have time to listen to anything you have to say"

"Please, Sirius?" She looked at me sadly. God, I was a sucker for girls.

"Fine, but make it fast. I'm trying to study here"

"Sirius, you don't study"

I just gave her a blank look. I wasn't going to let her get to me; I couldn't let her get to me.

"I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry for getting revenge… you really hurt me that day… when you told me you didn't like me, and I just wanted to say sorry. Alice says sorry, too. Actually, she wont talk to 

me anymore. She told me she thought I was obsessed with you and I think she may be right. I really like you, Sirius"

I didn't know how to react to that. I wasn't expecting her to say something like that, but I knew I couldn't trust her either. She was probably going to play me again, and Sirius Blacks doesn't get played, he's the player.

"Will you forgive me?"

"I can forgive you" I managed to say

A smile appeared on her face. "Thanks"

"But, I'm not going to take you back, Sally"

Her face fell. What made her think I was going to take her back in the first place? Was she insane?

"W-why not?" she said.

I tried to say what I really felt, but it wasn't working. I wasn't going to let her get to me; I had to remember that.

"Because I've moved on, Sally. I never liked you in the past and I don't plan on liking you in the future"

"I know I hurt you – "

"You didn't hurt me. I don't take people seriously like you do, Sally. I'm not weak"

"So you're calling me weak?" She said. How could she have gone from happy to sad to angry?

"Well…" I didn't know why I was acting so mean. It was just happening.

"You'll regret this, Black, you will. You'll regret ever messing with me"

"Looks like you're not over the whole revenge thing" I said. This was starting to become funny. She gave me a disgusted look and then stalked away.

Once she was out of my sight, I let out all the anger and frustration. I let everything out in one large breathe and found myself feeling very tired.

I was tired of being the target for girls. I was tired of saying no; of caring about what girls thought of me or what people thought of me, in general. After spending my life taking nothing seriously, ever, I was tired of taking relationships and girls seriously.

_I'm never taking a girl seriously again._


	9. Promise

**Tami POV:**

**'Promise'**

"Sit up in the loft and don't come down until they're gone, okay?"

"But mother – "

"Do you trust me Tami?"

"Yes, but – "

"Then do as I say, and once they're gone, go into my closet and pull out a blue shoebox. Inside are a few letters. Mail them immediately and there's one for you too, dear"

Mother hugged me for the millionth time and then ran downstairs to try and protect our house. I went up, savoring every moment I had with her. I had a feeling after today, there wouldn't be anymore moments. When I reached the loft, I had behind the box she had pointed out earlier.

I was mostly hiding my face from her, though. I didn't want her to see me cry. She had told me to be strong when and if she ever had to leave me, and I was ready to do that. But, I needed at least one minute of weakness before I could suck it all up and walk towards the future, like she had told me to do.

BOOM

I turned to see what had happened. The front door had been blasted off its hinges. My mother was lying a few feet away, bleeding in some places, but mostly un-hurt. She stood up and that's when we both saw the hooded figures standing in the doorway. My mother pointed her wand and got ready to fight them off.

"We're not here to fight" a voice said. The person was trying very hard not to sound menacing, but it wasn't working very well.

"Stay back" my mother said. She was the bravest person I knew.

"Just tell us what we need to know and we'll leave you alone"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because we'll rip your intestines out if you don't" a female voice said. One of the hooded figures tried to lunge at my mother, but another one of them held her back.

"Control yourself" said the hooded figure in the front.

"Just tell us where the rest of your people are hidden. That's all we want to know. We'll spare your life, we promise"

"I'm not telling you anything!" My mother screeched.

"Let me at her!" The woman screamed and lunged again, but she was stopped once more. The hooded figures moved farther into the house.

"Then we'll just have to make you" the man shouted something and next thing I knew, my mother was on the floor.

I turned my back on the scene once more, but nothing I did could keep out the sound of her piercing screams. Finally, the screams stopped.

"Tell us!" The man shouted at my mother. She wouldn't give in, she was too brave and too strong.

The torture continued and eventually the sound got to me. I couldn't bare it anymore and my head hit the ground hard. Everything went black.

When I woke up again, the screams had stopped. I picked myself up and rubbed my head. Everything was spinning around me but I didn't care. I looked down and saw that the hooded figures still had not gone. My mother was lying on the floor. She was still alive; her eyes met mine and stayed there for a few moments. Then, she turned and looked back at the hooded figures. They were standing together, discussing something. No one was watching my mother. I guess she had passed out too.

She stood up very quietly and tip-toed towards the wall. She pulled something off the wall, pulled her sleeve all the way up.

"NO!" Someone screamed, but it was too late. My mother sunk the tool deep into her skin. I watched her eyes roll up until there was only a white blankness in her sockets. She crumpled to the floor, dead.

I watched as the hooded figures crowded around her, trying to wake her up again. Nothing would work. My mother was gone; gone because of these horrible people. I wanted very much to run down there and kill them all, but I knew that I had to follow my mother's orders.

Even if she was gone, her wishes were still with me.

--

Once the hooded figures left, I went down the stairs. I fell to my knees next to my mother and tried to wake her up myself. I slapped her face lightly, shook her shoulders.

She was gone. She had left me alone, just like she always said she would have to. I never believed her. I never thought she was being serious; I just thought she was taking a precaution.

I knew that I didn't have much time. The Ministry would be here soon, once someone saw the Dark Mark hovering over our house. I ran back up the stairs and down the hallway, towards my mother's room. I found the blue box in her closet and began taking out letters.

The first one was to a man named Albus Dumbledore. He was all the way in London, and it seemed like he lived in a school. I guessed that he was a teacher there. I wondered how my mother knew someone from so far away.

The next letter was to a man I didn't recognize at all, but it seemed like he was my father. He had my last name.

The next letter was addressed to me. I took it out and opened it. Inside was a letter and a little package. I took the letter out and began reading.

_My dearest Tami,_

_I'm sorry things had to be this way, but it had to happen. I knew from the beginning that they would come for me. I was the least protected out of all the members of the resistance. They took even longer than I thought they would to track me down. I had thought they would come long before, and that's why I made your father leave us. I didn't know I'd give birth to you only two months later.  
If I had known you were coming, I would've never let myself live this way. We lived horribly, I know. I wasn't able to give you all the things a young girl needs. I couldn't give you any form of happiness, and I'm very sorry for that. I know my family members will take much better care of you and that's why I'm not sad to be leaving. You'll finally be able to live a normal life.  
There's not much to tell you, really. You know why I died and how I died, I'm sure. You were watching the whole time, weren't you?  
I just want you to know that I love you. I always have, and I loved your father, too. Please don't hate me for leaving you like this. Please?_

_Don't forget to deliver those letters as soon as possible. They're both very important; one of them is to your father._

_In the envelope under this is just the right amount of money for at least a week's payment for a hotel room. Go to the nearest hotel, and buy a room right now. Your guardian knows to look for you there, so you must go there. Now._

_Always be strong and never forget me. And you have to promise me that you'll never let yourself live life in pain. Life's too short to be distressed or sad and you must make the most of the life you have._

_I love you a lot, Tami.  
- Your mother._

The tears were flowing down my face at a fast speed, but I didn't care. I grabbed my letter, the other two letters and the envelope full of money. I was about to leave when I remember about the package. I picked that up, too, and put it in my jacket pocket.

I couldn't stop the tears from falling as I ran down the street towards the nearest hotel.

_I'm not going to rest until I hunt those Death Eaters that killed my mother. I swear._


	10. The Tables Turn

**_4 Years Later_**

It was surprising how much things had changed since our first year at Hogwarts. We were 5th years now and still as immature as ever, but certain details had changed. James was now head-over-heels in love with Lily Evans. Yes, the very same Lily Evans we fought with so many times in the past. He only fell for her in third year, and ever since then it's been intolerable being with him.

Remus had been announced as a Prefect this year. James and I spent a good amount of time making fun of him for it, but he knew better than to take us seriously. Plus, with him around, we were guaranteed less punishments and detentions. Remus had our backs.

Peter's the same squeaky little follower.

Lily's still friends with Snivellus. I'm impressed with her; I never knew she was so strong she could deal with the stench emitting from him.

Some of the only things that hadn't changed were my playing abilities; Quiditch and girls, and my habit of being late to class.

I banged the door open, but immediately regretted it.

"Mr. Black, is it too much to ask that you at least come into the classroom quietly when you are late?"

"No, ma'am" I was too tired to argue or make any jokes. I had stayed up all night with James, playing Exploding Snap. We were still in holiday mode.

I sat down (quietly) next to James in our usual seats; right behind Lily and whoever happened to be sitting next to her. Today, it was a skinny, black-haired girl that I had never seen before.

"Who is that?" I whispered to James. James didn't answer. I lightly nudged him. He swayed a little but still didn't answer. I rolled my eyes and decided to ask someone else instead.

I poked Lily in the head. She turned around, annoyed, and hissed; "what?"

"Who's your friend?" I asked, smiling at her.

"Nobody you should know" she said and then she turned back to the front of the classroom. Whenever someone denied me of what I wanted, I tended to try harder. So, this time, I lightly tapped the new girl on the shoulder. I was sure that she had heard me talking to Lily.

She took a while to turn around, and acted like she was rummaging for something. I guess it was because Minnie was watching. I sat back, waiting for the girl to turn around. Finally, she did. I stared in shock, moving backwards and backwards, the girl had a snout for a nose!

I fell back onto the floor, landing hard on my back. I saw the girl pull out her wand and change her nose to a normal one.

"Detention" Minnie shouted at me as I lay on the floor, not taking my eyes off of the girl who had successfully tricked me.

Even the sound of James voice asking 'what happened' or the sound of laughter around me could wake me up from my shock.

--

"That was brilliant!"

That was all I heard during lunch. Don't people know when to stop? James forced me to sit with him near Lily, and I was really regretting it. The new girl was sitting with Lily and they were chatting. Every few seconds, someone would pass by, congratulating her on finally pranking the prankster.

I was very annoyed.

"Can't we sit someplace else?" I asked James, but he didn't answer me. He was too busy watching Lily eat.

"What James meant was 'no'"Remus joked.

"Forget it, then. I'm leaving" I stood up and stormed out of the Great Hall.

--

"It's not that bad, mate"

"Yes it is! She got me, and I don't even know her. I mean, she doesn't even know me! We don't know each other – "

"I get that part" James said. "It's not a big deal, Sirius. Not everyone's brainless like Snivellus. Maybe you've finally met your match. You've just got to accept that"

"I don't want to meet my match. I'm good at what I do, and I can't have someone better at my job. It's not right"

"This is what I suggest" Remus said. "Why not just prank her back? Maybe James is wrong, maybe she isn't your match. Maybe she just got a lucky shot"

I slipped under the sheets and put my head down on the pillow. I thought about what Remus said and what he said was logical. What if I did prank her back? Would she fall for it? Could this actually work?

"If I do decide to do this plan, what should my prank be?" I asked them all, hoping someone would give me an idea.

"Why don't we sleep on it?" James asked after we sat, thinking in silence for more than twenty minutes.

"Good idea" I said, then turned onto my side and pretended to go to sleep. I knew deep down I wouldn't be able to get any sleep with a problem like this on my hands.

--

"Hi"

"Wait, wait" I stared at the board for a few more seconds, but couldn't think of a way to get out of this predicament.

"It's hopeless; he's got your king cornered in every way"

"Damn you, James!" I exclaimed. James always beat me at wizard's chess and it was just starting to get on my nerves.

Someone cleared their throat next to me. Both James and I looked up surprised. I hadn't even noticed her approach us. James put the chess board and the broken pieces away. They needed at least an hour to re-mend themselves.

That left me alone with the new girl.

"Hi" she said again.

"Hi…" I wasn't that ecstatic about talking to her.

"No hard feelings about that incident, right?"

I wonder what Lily had told her about me. "Of course not…"

"My name's Tami" she sat down in the seat James had vacated only a few seconds ago.

"Sirius" I watched her cautiously as she nodded her head, acknowledging my name, and looking around the room.

"So…" she said.

I was about to ask her so what when I heard someone call my name.

"Sirius" I turned and looked towards the voice. It was Remus and he was motioning that it was time. I had to go, quickly.

"Sorry, have to go. Friend's sick… needs my help… he might die if he doesn't see my face" I said quickly. Tami laughed.

"See you later then" she smiled and walked away.

In a weird, tricky-ish way, she was really, really attractive.


	11. Potion Catastrophies

**'Potion Catastrophies'**

**Sirius' POV:**

I had never felt so useless before in my life; so insignificant, so weak. I didn't tell anyone about how I was feeling, not even James. I couldn't bear to have people know that Tami might've won this battle; I couldn't let them know that I felt defeated because of it, too.

"Now, if you manage to make a Shrinking Potion, you will win 20 points for your house. You may begin"

I looked down at the instructions in the book for a Shrinking Potion, but none of it made sense. I looked at James to see if he had comprehended any of it, but it seemed like he was more confused than me.

"How do we do this?" I whispered to him.

"I don't know"

"This sucks. Everything sucks. Why does everything suck so much?" I fell back into my seat and closed my eyes.

"Just be happy you don't have to work with Peter" James said. I could hear the laughter in his voice, so I opened one eye and peeked at what was going on at Peter's end. His partner was Tami and it seemed like the only subject he wanted to study today was her.

I opened my other eye and watched both of them intently. Tami was reading the materials the potion asked for and was trying to memorize them so she could remember what to receive from the storage cupboard. Peter was watching her, and involuntarily adding ingredients to something that couldn't even be called a potion. It was starting to bubble over the cauldron. If Peter didn't watch what he was doing, he'd get it full in the face.

"AAARRGHHH" the sound and sight made me close my eyes again. The second the potion had hit Peter's skin, large boils, tentacles and other disgusting forms began sprouting across his face. It was disgusting to watch.

Tami had gone to the store cupboard at exactly the right time. If she hadn't… I shuddered at the thought.

"Oh dear… you must be more careful next time Mr. Pettigrew. Mr. Potter, please escort Peter to the hospital wing"

James nodded, holding back his laughter and walked with Peter out of the room.

"Ah… you are without a partner, Ms. Valentine. Hmm, why don't you go join Mr. Black over there?"

Oh no.

"Hey" she said when she reached my table.

"Hi…" Why did I always feel awkward when talking to her? It was probably because of the unfortunate incident.

"You guys didn't start the potion yet" she said looking down into our cauldron.

"Potions is not exactly my best subject, or James"

"Same here" Tami laughed, but I stayed quiet. I didn't like her; I didn't like her one bit. She was a complete show off. How could she live with herself? I bet she thought she was so amazing because she tricked me ONCE. JUST ONCE. It wasn't even a good prank.

I looked away to hide my anger.

**Tami's POV:**

I had never seen someone who could take a joke so seriously. I could tell he was angry, he wouldn't look at me, and when he talked to me, he sounded like he'd rather die than be within a 50 radius from me.

It was sort of funny and annoying at the same time. Why did people have to live life so seriously? Couldn't they have fun and not care for even a moment?

"So, um, do you know how we're supposed to make this into a Shrinking Potion?" I asked, looking at what we had achieved so far; boiling water.

"No, like I said, not good at Potions"

"Well, I hope I do this right. I'd hate if my hair turned purple or something" I tried to ease up the mood, but it didn't work.

Then suddenly it did. He laughed and when he was finished he smiled at me.

"That would be horrible" he said, still smiling. I smiled back and went to work. "I have an idea" he suddenly said. "What if you put the ingredients together and I read the instructions out to you, since you seem to be able to control the cauldron better"

"That sounds fair" I handed him the book and went to the cupboard to retrieve more ingredients. When I got back, he was ready to go.

"Okay, add a bit of that… blue stuff" he pointed at a bottle.

"A bit of the green goo"

The rest of the class went on this way. He dictated, and I grabbed and poured. He even helped me cut of the herb roots, and he was perfectly cheerful about it. Maybe things were starting to get better between us.

"The last thing you have to do is put a drop of the black, mystical-looking stuff and we'll be done" he slammed the book shut and watched me pick up the bottle, open it and hold it steady over the cauldron. His eyes on me made me feel uneasy, though. I stopped before the drop could fall and looked at him questioningly.

"What?" He asked.

"Why are you watching me like that?"

"I don't know" he said. "If you want, I can look away"

I shook the feeling and went back to pouring the drop. He wasn't watching me this time, he was chatting with one of his friends; the sandy-haired one.

The drop hit the contents of the cauldron and the potion immediately began sizzling. I tried to step back from it but found myself frozen in place. I couldn't move anything, only my eyes. I couldn't even scream. I could just watch the potion rise higher and higher until.

POOF

I felt my body under my control again. When I resurfaced from the purple smoke, I saw everyone laughing. What were they laughing at? I looked over at him and saw he was on the floor, laughing really, really hard.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Y-you-your hair" he choked through his laughter, but that's all he could manage to say. I grabbed the small mirror Lily handed me. She wasn't laughing; she looked positively livid.

I looked into the mirror and froze.

My hair was a bright, shinny purple.

I screamed and ran right out of the classroom.


	12. Spell Searching

Tami's POV:

I wasn't going to just let this pass unnoticed. He wasn't going to get away with this. He owes me at least three inches of my hair!

I just knew one thing; he was going to pay.

"I think it's better if you just stay away from them" Lily said.

"I understand why you want to stay away from them, but I'm not letting him have the satisfaction of winning"

"Why can't you just let it go? If you do this, you'll probably get in trouble!"

"I got in trouble loads of times in my old school, it's nothing new to me" I answered.

Why was Lily so persistent about this?

"But – "

"Just let it go, Lily. There's nothing that'll change my mind, okay? I'll see you in History of Magic" I said before she could go on. She nodded and walked away.

I was determined to find out how to ruin him; ruin him to bad that he wouldn't dare to mess with me again. Okay… maybe that was going a little over-board, but I wasn't going to let him go unscathed.

"So, there's a Hogsmede trip tomorrow" I heard a familiar voice say. I stopped in my tracks.

"Yeah, I know" a girl's voice said.

"Will you be there?"

"I might"

"Well, then, maybe we could go together?"

"Sounds good to me" then the girl walked past me, smiling to herself.

It's just disgusting.

"Hey, mate"

"Just landed a date for tomorrow"

"Nice"

I heard heavier footsteps and louder voices. I ran the opposite way and hid in a cupboard that was conveniently there at the right moment. I listened as Sirius and James walked past my hiding place.

I had just thought of the most brilliant idea ever.

--

"Lily, you have to help me search!"

"I'm not getting involved. This is your prank, you do all the work"

"I thought you were my friend, and don't you want to see Sirius get a taste of his own medicine"

"Yes, I do, but I don't want to be part of it. I'm not getting involved with those maniacs"

I sighed. Lily was just too stubborn sometimes. "Fine, don't help me. I'll search for the spell on my own" I went back to searching through the big pile of books in front of me.

"Hi, Lily" I looked up to see the sandy-haired boy standing over us. "Hi" he said to me, with a smile.

"What's up, Remus?"

Lily seemed to be pretty friendly with this one; why wasn't she friendly with the rest of them?

"I just wanted to discuss the, uh, prefect duties with you. The – "

"James put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did" Remus smiled. "He's starting to get on my nerves. So is Sirius. All _he_ can talk about is pranking…" his voice trailed off.

"Those two are just horrible"

I snorted and went back to my reading. I wasn't interested in their conversation. I needed to find that spell soon, or else my prank would fail. I couldn't let that happen; this was a one and only chance.

Although, I did hear that Sirius had dates almost every night of the week.

"Hello Remus, ladies" I looked up again. James was now standing with Remus, grinning down upon us.

"Potter, no" Lily said, and then she went back to writing her essay.

"What – I didn't even say anything!"

"I was just guessing you'd ask me out, and now you know my answer is still _no_!" She slammed her books shut, picked them up and walked away. James followed her out of the library. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I didn't really care.

I looked back down at the book. "Damn it!" This was starting to get on my nerves.

"Need help with something?" I looked up. Remus was still standing there. I couldn't trust him, though; he was friends with the enemy. Although, he didn't seem all that bad.

"I'm just looking for a spell"

"For what?" He asked.

"For something"

He looked at me questioningly. Then he sat down across from me. "You can tell me, I promise I wont tell Sirius"

I wasn't sure I could trust him. He could easily be lying to me. He might actually just run over and tell Sirius all about my little plan. I couldn't let that happen.

"I'm not trying to prank Sirius; I'm too mature for that. I was just having some fun that time. I didn't think he'd retaliate like that"

"Of course" he smiled at me. It was frustrating but also funny at the same time.

"The spell I'm looking for is something like the Imperius Curse, just not… well, you know, illegal"

He laughed. "I think I might have something to help you. Try 'orderia'; it's almost like the Imperius Curse, but it doesn't give you complete control over everything. You're just able to make the person do small things, like saying phrases or picking things up, and it only lasts for a few minutes"

"Thanks" I smiled at him.

"And make sure you give Sirius a 'taste of his own medicine'"

I don't know why, but I blushed.

--

"Remus gave you the spell? _Remus_? Why would he do that! He's never supported pranking"

"I don't know but I intend on using his spell"

"What if it's a trick? Have you given the spell a test run?"

"Marlene!"

"It wouldn't hurt" Marlene said. "So, have you?"

"No, but you think I should?"

"Why not use it on Lily and make her say yes to James the next time he asks her out" all the other girls giggled at Marlene's idea.

"That's not funny! James is a complete pig. I wouldn't go out with him if he was the last guy on earth"

"Oh, come on, Lily. He's head-over-heels in love with you. At least give him a chance?"

"No"

Lily was really very stubborn.

"What's with you and James?"

"He's always going after Lily, trying to make her say yes to a date. He's tried dating other girls but he just doesn't like any of them as much as he likes Lily"

"That's not true. He's just trying to mess with my head so I lose my guard around him and end up in bed with him!"

"That might do you some good, you know"

"Marlene, shut your mouth!" Lily said angrily.

"I'm sorry I asked" I murmured to myself as the girls went on about who they would or would not date. I wasn't much of a dater, really. I didn't believe in falling in love with a guy or anything like that. Those things just didn't exist. People just wanted them to exist, and that's why everyone thinks it does. It's a mind game, you see. But, it's not like I haven't been asked out before. I have, but I never accepted those guys. If I did ever go out with a guy, it would have to be someone totally amazing. Someone totally off-beat; someone no one would expect me to be with.

But, why waste your time thinking about things like that? I had pranks to plan, and the biggest one was just about to happen.

"Come on, let's go" Marlene said, opening the dormitory door. I got up from my bed and followed the girls out. Almost all of them, except Lily and Brenda, had dates. I think Lily and Brenda were going to hang out at the Three Broomsticks, and then do a little window shopping.

I was thinking about joining them later on, if I wasn't tied up with the prank. But, honestly, how hard was it going to be, trying to ruin a little date?


	13. Stupid Mistake

'**Stupid Mistake'**

**Tami's POV:**

"So, how exactly are you going to ruin his date?" Lily whispered to me as we walked down the path towards Hogsmede.

"_Now_ you're interested"

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Please just tell me?"

"Well, I'm going to use a spell that Remus mentioned. And I know you may think that Remus is going to go and tell Sirius about my plan, but …"

"Shh!" Lily said frantically. Then she ran behind a wall and pulled me with her.

"What're you doing?" I whispered angrily.

"SHH! Listen"

"She's going to try and ruin your date! How?" James snorted.

"Some spell that Moony mentioned to her, but I'm already ahead of her. Anything she makes me say she'll end up saying herself. You can almost say it's a spell repellent"

"That's brilliant!"

"I know! I can't wait to see the look on her face"

James and Sirius laughed as they walked towards their dates. Me and Lily waited until they were out of sight, then we began walking again. My whole plan was ruined. Everything was ruined and it was all because of Remus!

"I had a feeling they were up to something. James had that look on his face; the kind he gets before he plays a prank, knows about a coming prank or when he's getting ready to ask me out"

"What am I going to do? I spent all my time looking for this one spell. I didn't even try to search for a back-up one. I'm such a bad prankster" I had never felt so defeated in my life. Either I had to give in to Sirius or step up my game; and I wasn't in the mood to try anymore.

"You know I don't like getting involved with these guys" Lily said. She hesitated after that which made absolutely no sense. What was she so afraid to say?

"I … can help you if this is really that important to you"

"Oh, Lily!" I jumped up and hugged her. She patted my back lightly and when I pulled back I saw she was smiling.

"You better make this worth it"

"I promise, you won't regret this"

"I think I'm already starting to"

"So, what's your plan?" I asked, ignoring her comment.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure right now, but how hard can it be?"

I watched Sirius walk through a doorway down the street. "Pretty hard… Sirius decided to be romantic!" I exclaimed.

Lily and I stood there, motionless, watching the sign swinging in the cold December air.

"How are we going to get _in there_? Lily asked me. I felt like this was the worst day of my life. How could two, single girls step into Madame Puddifoots?

**Sirius POV:**

How could _anyone_ think that they'd be able to prank me? I admit that she had, indeed, tricked me once before, but that was only because I wasn't ready. Her pranks were very amateur, anyway. She wouldn't be able to prank me if her life depended on it.

"So…" Carrie said, trying to start a conversation. I hated when girls did that; as if I was interested in talking!

"You don't have to look at – "

There was a loud crash from near the kitchen doors. A waiter sat on the floor, dishes all around him, looking completely bewildered.

"That's weird; there was nothing there for him to trip over"

We watched the waiter for a few more minutes.

"He must've tripped over his own feet" I reasoned.

"Maybe… so, what were you saying?"

"Oh, right. I was saying that I ordered something special for us" I leaned in and gave her my most charming smile.

"How sweet! What did you order?"

"It's a surprise"

Time flew by as Carrie and I sat there. We didn't talk so much, but I was having fun watching her. She was probably the prettiest Hufflepuff 4th year, but that's not saying much if it comes from me. Every girl I date is the prettiest at that moment; that's what they want to hear, anyway"

Finally, a waiter came and put the dish down in front of us. It was covered with a lid and there was a bow around the handle.

Carrie reached towards the lid handle.

"Wait" I said. Her hand froze in place and then dropped back at her side.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

I carefully picked up the lid off the tray, so that only I could see what was under. Everything looked normal…

Of course everything looked normal! Why was I even worrying? There was no possible way that _she_ could've gotten in here. I had Peter watching the door for me.

"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure they got the order right. You know how these people are" Carrie nodded her head, but I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Anyway, I just hope you really enjoy it, 'cause I picked it out specially for you" I gestured that she should take the lid off the tray…

…

And then she screamed.

I fell off my chair and onto the floor. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at us. The nearest waiters had fainted and so had some of the customers.

A spider the size of a baby's head sat in the tray, along with an assortment of other disgusting substances. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen!

"What _is_ this?" Carrie screamed. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

"I – it's – I –"

"Save it, Black. I knew you were immature, but seriously! What's wrong with you?"

Then she stormed out of the restaurant.

… How could I have underestimated this annoying girl?

**Tami's POV:**

"Tami, that's just …" Lily looked away from the scene unfolding before us.

Sirius looked absolutely confused, Sirius' date looked completely revolted (along with Lily), and I looked downright ecstatic. I had never been so happy in my life.

--

She's evil, I tell you. Just… completely evil!"

"Actually, I find her boldness quite refreshing. There's no girl I know that's as good at us at pranking!"

"That's because you're too busy watching Evans to notice any other girls"

"Well, can you blame me?" James turned his attention over to Lily, who was sitting and reading a book under a tree.

"Yes, we can" Sirius answered, but James was already gone; heading over to where Lily was.

"Don't bring me or Peter into your discussion, Sirius. James is entitled to fancy whomever he wants"

"Yeah, yeah I know. But, anyway, you're missing the point here! SHE'S EVIL!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at his un-interested friends.

I snickered; I couldn't help myself, but it gave away my position. I took the cloak off and walked boldly to where the three boys were sitting.

Sirius looked furious.

"Give this to James for me" I threw the cloak at Sirius and he caught it. "And tell him 'thanks' for letting me borrow it. Oh, and 'sorry' for not letting him know"

"This is not over…" Sirius hissed.

"I'm sure" then I turned and walked away.

**Sirius' POV:**

"_Absolutely evil!"_

**Sorry for not reviewing FOR LKE FOREVR !  
school's really tiring me out& i cudn't find time to update.**

**anywhos, i live for reviews. ( :**


	14. Cruel Realization

'**Cruel Realization'**

**Sirius' POV:**

None of my usual tricks would work; I just knew it. I didn't want to admit to anyone else, but she was just _too good_! I had literally nothing up my sleeve.

Remus had been bothering me about this, telling me to let it all go. I think he might fancy her; the way he wants me to stop, like he _respects_ her or something. It makes me sick. How can someone respect something so evil? So absolutely evil, that even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would bow down to her evilness!

I'm not even exaggerating.

Everywhere I go, she's tailing me. She always knows where I am, and she always manages to find some way to make my life miserable. I wasn't sure what to do anymore. I had never dealt with someone so… so… _EVIL_!

"Padfoot, did you even hear half of what I just said?" James whispered.

"What?" I snapped, falling back to reality with a loud crash.

Oh wait. That crash was only me falling out of my chair.

"Mr. Black" Minnie said from the front of the classroom. She gave me a long, stern stare and I was pretty sure she was getting ready to give me detention.

"I'm sorry, Professor… It was just… It was just your immense beauty that made my brain freeze and my bones to lose all feeling. That's why I fell" I gave her my best impression of an embarrassed face; almost like a girl's.

The whole class laughed; naturally.

Two tables in front of us, Evans raised her hand. Minnie called on her and then Evans started blabbing on about rats and feathers.

What in the world were they talking about?

That's when I lost my concentration to James.

"Did you hear what I just said!" he exclaimed angrily.

"No, no, what was it?"

"Peterson's injured and Professor McGonagall asked _Tami_ to fill in his place! Apparently, she was a good Chaser in her old school"

"They have Quiditch in hell?" I asked, scathingly.

"Padfoot, concentrate! If you two don't patch things up quickly, it could cost us the game! There can't be any pranking during our training hours, or the game, or even outside of that!"

"You're starting to sound like Moony"

"Moony might be right, but he's right for the wrong reasons!"

Both James and I froze in place. "Wait, what?" I asked, confused.

"I'm not even sure what I just said"

"Yeah, me neither, but I get the gist of it. You want to me to lay low. I get it, but speak to her; I'm not the one who's been continuing the pranking, it's her!"

"Yeah, and it's obvious why" Leaning in from the table behind us, Peter joined the conversation. Remus refused to get involved in anything to do with Tami. Mostly because I'd made fun of him so much about fancying her.

Why couldn't he just admit it already?

"What's the 'obvious reason', Wormtail?" James asked, obviously annoyed.

"She _fancies_ Sirius!" Wormtail whispered excitedly.

I fell off my chair laughing. Looks like two weeks of detention for me.

--

It was raining outside. Good; I loved a challenge. Most of our Quiditch practices had been boring these days. Normal, sunny days with a bit of wind. The most exciting thing that had happened so far was when we caught a Slytherin spying on our Quiditch moves. He got detention for it, although I think he should've been expelled.

Sneakiness and spying should not be tolerated!

Oh lord, I sounded like my mother right there. I didn't feel like throwing up, so I started thinking about how exciting today's practice would be.

It was raining, it was foggy, and Tami would be around. That meant endless pranks and insults; mostly from her end, but I wasn't going to just sit around and ignore it anymore. I was going to take action.

I felt bad for lying to James, though. It wasn't like I promised him, but how could I break my trust like that? Maybe if I restrained from even acknowledging she existed, I could stop myself from breaking James' trust.

But if she says even one word!

--

I slipped into my Quiditch robes and joined the mob of people standing and listening to the Captain's speech. I didn't see the point of making a speech before _every practice_. Our first game wasn't even until another three weeks; why did we have to listen to his voice every Tuesday and Thursday night? We shouldn't be wasting our time; we should be out there, flying!

I started blowing the hair in front of my face, so I could distract myself from this boring speech.

"You better watch yourself out there" I hadn't even notice her come up next to me. She was smirking and looking ahead. Oh, how I wanted to hit her little, shiny black head with my broom. Hmm, I had never noticed how shiny her hair was. It was almost… nice. OH, EW, I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT.

"Why are you so speechless? Afraid?"

"Oh, is that you Tami? I was wondering how monsters could talk!" I whispered back finally.

"Har har, you're so funny"

"And don't you forget it"

She shook her head, and… was that a _smile_? Could Peter have been right? Could it be possible that Peter, after all these years, actually got an assumption right? The one person in our group whom we thought had the smallest brain; could he have seen something the rest of us didn't?

Could Peter read minds?

Okay, now I was just being an idiot. But, seriously, _could it be_?

Could Tami actually _like_ me?

--

**I AM SO SORRY O ;  
I never realized how hard life can be. I've just been so busy, and not even with schoolwork.  
But that's still not exscuse. I know I don't have many fans, but to the ones I may have (possibly) let down, I'm really sorry.**

**It's not much of a chapter, but altleast we're getting somewhere! ( :  
Maybe Sirius finally realized the truth... ? Or maybe he didnt ? Maybe the truth he thinks is true isn't even really true?Who knows!**

**I want to try this poll thing, so there may be a new poll up. Heheh.**

**I strongly recommend the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Miraz. It's an _interesting_ song.**


	15. Old Habits Die Hard

**'Old Habits Die Hard'**

**Tami's POV**

How could anyone think I liked him? I mean, yes, he is good-looking. Smart, obviously. Good-humored… most of the time, anyway. A great catch, as they would say. And also the biggest liar you will ever meet!

Plus I had no time for things or people like that. I was trying to live my life, have fun! If bothering an intensely cute fifteen year old was how I had fun, so be it. It had nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with whether I liked him or not. I guess that's why I had to make it seem like it did. Messing with people's heads was just too much fun. Especially with his. He reacted, just like everyone else, but his reactions were so much stronger. Why? Probably because he was so used to being the pranker, rather than the prankee.

The doorway opened, revealing deafening screams and blurred movements. All thoughts of pranks and Sirius Black escaped my mind, as I concentrated on the one thing in my life that I took seriously.

No wait, one of two.

* * *

"You did so well, Tami!" I was used to compliments, so I didn't react to this one either.

"Thanks" I replied a little dryly, to Lily.

"Why don't you seem happy? You were the life of the game!"

"I am happy. It just doesn't seem like it"

Lily gave me a weird look, but neither of us had time to say anything. We had arrived at the Gryffindor common room, where a party was currently underway. I felt all hot and sweaty, despite the fact that it had been so freezing outside. I decided I'd take a quick shower and then come back down. I told Lily that, she nodded. I went up. I was finally all alone. Getting into the shower finally gave me the chance to think seriously about things. I loved Quiditch, I really did. But there was something about it that left me tired and... well, serious, by the end. Maybe it was because my mother had always told me I'd make a great Quiditch player someday. So I had a gift, okay! I knew - and still know - that I played chaser better than any other chaser on the school teams; maybe even better than some professionals. I was good. Real good. My mother always used to say that I could make a career out of it. And that one day, she'd be able to call that famous Quiditch player her daughter.

Maybe because of that idea, I took Quiditch so seriously. Every time I got ready to play, I felt uneasy. But once I was out there, I felt the need to play harder than anyone else. For her.

For me.

For our team.

The team we used to be.

After all, where do you think I got my Quiditch skills from?

* * *

"Finally! We found her"

I turned around and my eyes fell on three boys standing in the doorway. I was decent so it didn't bother me much that they were in here. The fact that they were near me, during my 'me time', did bother me though.

"What do you guys want?" I asked, rubbing my wet hair with a towel.

"So what are you? Like a chaser prodigy or something?"

"Wow! You used a big word!" I said nastily. I wasn't up for conversation. James couldn't see that though.

"Come on, I'm serious. I mean, I knew you were good or whatever. But that good! You completely pummeled Slytherin to dust"

"Another big word" I said sarcastically.

"Come on James, she doesn't seem up to talking" I heard Remus say.

I turned and looked at all three of them. "You're right"

I brushed past them as I made my way back to the party.

* * *

"God, what I'd do to get into his -"

"Marlene!"

I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Lily's face.

"Who are you talking about anyway?" I asked.

"Sirius, of course"

"Of course" Lily rolled her eyes.

We were all sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast. The party the night before had gone well into the morning, and I knew for a fact that some of us hadn't even gone to sleep at night at all. Those were the ones currently sleeping in their breakfast. In other words; Sirius, James and Peter. Remus looked quite refreshed and didn't seem to have noticed his friends snoring in their cereal.

"So, what? You fancy him or something?"

"Marlene fancies everyone" Lily commented.

"I do not! And anyway, Sirius is the only one I've liked since first year"

"Yeah, for some bizarre reason"

"Come on, Lily, you have to admit. All four - okay, three - of them are good looking. Even though you despise James, you have to admit, he has the looks. Sirius' are definitely superior though."

"Thank god, then, that I focus on the inside rather than the outside"

"I don't see how Snape's insides can be any less greasy than his outside"

"Marlene! That's a horrible thing to say!"

"He's a horrible person!"

"He's misunderstood, that's all"

"Misunderstood?" Marlene scoffed. "Please, he's scum! At least those guys come from decent families"

"Family lineage is not important! What are you, a Slytherin?"

"That's not what I meant and you know that! I just meant that you know his family isn't the best. He's bound to be a little... demented"

"And Sirius' family isn't demented? _You're_ the one who needs to get your head checked"

And then Lily left. I had been watching the scene unfold with shocked eyes. Marlene didn't seem upset, though.

"Wow, that was harsh" I said.

"It's not a big deal. Lily gets like that sometimes, when I mention Snivellus. It takes all my strength not to call him by that name in front of her"

"Who is that?" I asked, going back to my breakfast.

"Just some _slithering_ Slytherin that Lily insists on being friends with"

"What's so wrong about his family though? And what did Lily mean about Sirius' family?"

"Snape's family is... disgusting. His father's a muggle and his mother's a witch. But apparently they're always fighting and Snape grew up dirty and greasy, just as he is now. I guess old habits die hard. The way Lily described him when she first met him" Marlene laughed. "Sirius' family, on the other hand, is well known. Haven't you heard of the Blacks?"

I shook my head no.

"The Blacks are pure-bloods all the way down to the first ancestors. And they're loaded" Marlene's eyes gleamed. I could tell it wasn't because of the money, but because of the gossip.

"But everyone here knows the Blacks are big you-know-who supporters"

Voldemort? Really? Sirius Black?

I looked at the now awake Sirius (I guess Remus finally took pity on his friends.) His eyes were half open and he looked just about as dangerous as a friendly puppy. How could he possibly be from such a horrible family?

None the less, I felt the anger beginning to boil up inside.

* * *

**Long time, no update. Sorry. Bet you thought I gave up.**

**Hah, I thought so too. (:**


	16. Detention

**'Detention'**

**Sirius' POV:**

Any belief that Tami liked me had completely evaporated at this point. Considering the fact that I had just (thankfully) survived one of her attacks proved how drastically her attitude had changed. But no matter how good she was at dueling, she had no chance against me. The attack took me by surprise but it was no secret who would come out on top.

There was just one problem. We now had detention together.

"Should I stay nearby for protection?" James asked. He insisted on walking me down to detention.

"No, and I don't need to be walked down, like some five year old. I can protect myself you know" I waved my wand around for emphasis.

"Black, stop waving your wand around like some mindless ape" snapped McGonagall as she walked past and into the room, without even a glance.

"How does she do it?" I whispered to James. He shrugged, and then walked off.

"Are you going to come in, Mr. Black? We are waiting patiently for you." I sucked in a deep breathe and walked through the door. My wand was in my pocket now but my hand never left the handle.

Okay, so maybe I was a little scared.

* * *

**Tami's POV:**

I could almost feel the ice form over my heart as he walked in. Walking like some proud little murderer. Every swagger just made it clearer and clearer that he was scum. Scum that deserved to die. Worse than even Snivellus. At least everyone knew he was bad. Sirius had managed to fool even the stupid sorting hat.

How?

"Thank you for joining us" Professor McGonagall said. "Now, who would like to explain to me why - _why_ - two of my brightest and most intelligent Gryffindors decided to act like a pair of bloodthirsty goblins?" she spat. I couldn't look her in the eye. Not when she was trying to pierce them into our very consciences.

"She started it!" Sirius immediately said.

It was the first time in weeks that I had looked at him. I sneered, "When will you ever grow up?"

"Ms. Valentine, that is _enough_!"

"Funny what she's named after, seeing as her heart is made of stone"

I pulled out my wand and aimed it between his eyes, "you're one to talk."

He was ready faster than I had anticipated and now both our wands were facing each others' foreheads.

"BRING YOUR WANDS DOWN OR YOU'LL BOTH BE EXPELLED."

That was the last thing I needed. Another reason to adjust to my surroundings. I watched and waited as his wand disappeared, then I put mine away too. I still couldn't look at her, so I looked at the bookshelf instead.

Transfiguration. He's so good at it. Transfiguring himself into what you want to see.

"_What is going on?_" I almost wanted to laugh at the disbelief in her voice. She had no idea. No one had any idea what it was like...

"Like I said, she started it."

"What did you do to provoke her, Mr. Black?"

"I don't know. She's crazy!"

"Shut up" I snapped. Still couldn't look.

"Ms. Valentine! Mr. Black! Both of you!" McGonagall gave us a heavy sigh. I didn't like causing her distress.

"You say, Mr. Black, that Ms. Valentine started this... and you did nothing to provoke her?"

"That's correct, Professor"

No stupid jokes this time?

"Ms. Valentine, why do you insist on shoving your wand into Mr. Black's face?"

How was I supposed to answer this? Oh, just because he's from a family of dark wizards, he has the whole population of the school believing he's an innocent Gryffindor, when deep down, he's really waiting for his chance to betray everyone and join the dark side!

Yeah, I don't think so.

"I dislike him"

It was silent for a few moments. I couldn't be sure why, since I still refused to look up.

"Well, in that case, I know the solution to this problem. Seeing as teenagers' feelings change fast and easily, I'm sure confining you two to this room for a few hours should do the trick. Hand me your wands please."

She couldn't be serious. She absolutely couldn't be.

I handed her my wand. So did Sirius.

She was. She was serious.

* * *

**Sirius' POV:**

I sat slumped in my chair. I never knew how defenseless one could feel without the protection of a wand!

"And remember, if I find you used anything in this room as a weapon, you'll both get detention for the rest of your Hogwarts career!"

McGonagall slammed the door. And then we were left alone.

_One hour later..._

I never realized how shiny my hair was. Hah, okay, maybe I did. I smiled at my fake modesty.

The smile disappeared when I saw the scowl directed at me.

_Another hour later..._

"What are you doing?"

"Get away from me" she snarled.

_Thirty minutes..._

"Why do you hate me?" I finally blurted out. "Please, just tell me. I haven't even pranked you! And everyone's pressuring me about this; Lily, James and now McGonagall! And I didn't even do anything, I think?"

Oh, if looks could kill. But I wouldn't back off this time. I stood my ground, metaphorically. Literally, I was sitting. But that's beside the point! I made sure not to look away from the glare she was giving me. I waited for her response.

"Sirius Black" she spat. "Prestigious name, isn't it?" She stood up. "Honored. Admired. Feared, probably."

Sneering!

"But you're nothing but a filthy liar. A filthy _Slytherin_. You can't wait to turn on us - the good guys - and slither back to your family"

Woah woah, wait... Slytherin? I stood up, too.

"Uh, darling, I'm in Gryffindor. Have you forgotten?" I indicated towards the red and gold crest on my school cloak.

"I don't know how you did it, you back-stabbing, muggle-hating, murderous traitor" she advanced on me so quickly, I fell back into my seat. "But I know better than to trust people like you"

"People like me?" I asked her, confused. I guess I should've known better than to poke a venomous snake, but we were finally getting somewhere. Maybe I could solve this problem and get everyone off my back. Including her.

"VOLDEMORT SUPPORTERS!" she screamed. I swear, I think the whole school heard her.

"Me, a you-know-who supporter? That's a joke, right?"

She looked positively livid.

"Come on! You can't be serious! Me? I couldn't hurt a fly! Okay, not true... but I constantly hurt Snivellus! And he's a Slytherin. If I were a supporter, wouldn't I be on his side?"

"It's probably just an act."

"An act for what? What could I possibly be acting for?"

"I don't know!" she spluttered. "Your family -"

"Nobody chooses their family." I snapped.

"But they're all evil, aren't they? Your own brother is a Slytherin!"

"So? Your father is a muggle! You don't hear me calling you a mud-blood."

I could see her recoiling into her cage. She was hiding something. I don't know what, but it was something.

"How do you know about my father?"

"Lily told me. Listen, I can tell you're not ashamed of your family.

And that's good; you have nothing to be ashamed of. I, on the other hand..."

"You're ashamed of your family?"

"Why do you sound surprised?" I asked, sarcastically. "What's there to like about them? Their darkness? Their obvious negligence of my feelings? Their obvious hatred of anyone who isn't pure-blooded? Or maybe the fact that Regalus is the favorite because he's just as messed up as all of them."

"Are you jealous of your brother?"

"Jealous! Don't ever say that again. There's nothing to be jealous of. I would never want to be in his position."

Guess it was my turn to be angry.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**Hi people (:**


	17. New Friends

**'New Friends'**

**Tami's POV:**

It's easy to blame the innocent for things you don't know how to face yourself. I guess that's why it was so easy to hate Sirius for nothing. I couldn't get myself to accept him as innocent when his family was to blame for so much. Without his supporters, without someone behind him, Voldemort would be nothing but a very good dueler. And yet, everyone knew that Voldemort wasn't the strongest wizard. He was just the most bloodthirsty. The fact that he would do anything to get ahead - to get what he wanted - was the only reason he had reached the position he was in now. That, and his followers.

His supporters.

The Blacks.

"Then why is he important?" I asked.

"He's not. I'm just trying to tell you... my family means nothing to me. Just like I mean nothing to them. So don't even try to compare me and my beliefs with theirs."

"How can you grow up in a family like that and not believe in what they taught you?"

"Because they never bothered to teach me, okay! And I'm quite glad I wasn't brainwashed. And then I met James and Remus - and, unfortunately, Peter - and I learned what a real family was. Like I said before, you don't choose your family. But that's what my mother and father did. They chose Regalus. And left me with nothing."

I wasn't sure what to say now. I guess I hadn't expected this. I took a few more steps back, in defeat. I had no more accusations left.

"So will you stop acting like some kind of explosive, and just back off?" He asked.

Well, I could always attack him for being a git.

"Yes, I'll stop"

"Thanks" he replied, almost sarcastically. "And for good measure, just stay completely out of my life."

* * *

I thought staying out of his life would be easy. But how do you stay out of someone's life when you see them all the time? We had all the same classes. We were in the same house, for Merlin's sake! And being in the same circle of friends didn't help either.

None the less, we never spoke to each other. Maybe a word here or there, but our longest conversation yet had been seven words long.

"Can you pass the marmalade?"

"Yeah, here"

I tried to exclude myself from everyone else too, in hopes of making this easier on myself. That ended badly, though; with Lily claiming that I was avoiding her and all the girls participating in an intervention. All for me.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Doing what?" I asked, as Lily made herself comfortable at my table, where I was clearly trying to be alone. Anywhere that Lily went, James went. And anywhere that James went, Sirius went. It just wasn't going to work.

"You're distancing yourself from everyone else because of him? Just ignore him! And come hang out with us again"

"I can't, I'm studying."

"Then let's study together."

"Lily -""Sirius is never serious about things like this. Just ignore him, okay? It's not such a hard thing to do."

Oh, but it was. And I couldn't understand.

* * *

**Sirius' POV:**

"You can't keep avoiding her forever" James said. "We're playing Ravenclaw this week and this problem you have with her will ruin everything!"

"Is that all you think about? Quiditch?"

"And girls" Remus added.

"Quiditch and girls are the only two things that matter"

I rolled my eyes, but part of me (okay, most of me, agreed with him). I was currently trying to shake this Hufflepuff girl off my back. You go on one date with a girl, and suddenly the expect more. Why did girls have to make everything so difficult?

"So what am I supposed to do? She's insane! Really insane! I can't just talk to her. Every time I'm in the same room as her, I'm afraid she'll attack me or something. There's something wrong with her, you know"

"Sirius Black is scared of some _girl_?"

"Shut up, James"

"Why should I? It's true, isn't it? First she pranks you and you think she's evil, and now she tries a few feeble attempts at attacking you and you claim she's demented. It sounds like you're _intimidated_ by her"

"I'm not intimidated by her! What do you want me to do? Suddenly become her friend?"

"Yes! I would tell you to date her, but that would most likely make everything worse"

"You're crazy - you're honestly just as demented as she is"

"Just do it"

At this point, it seemed like I had no choice. Of course I wanted Gryffindor to win, but wasn't this too much? Why couldn't we just go on ignoring each other? It's not like it was really interfering with our practice anyway.

Okay, so maybe I cursed her once during practice.

Okay, okay! Twice.

* * *

**Tami's POV:**

We were going to have Quiditch practice in a short while, but I didn't feel up to it. I didn't feel up to anything, not even eating! And anyone who knows me knows how much I love to eat. Especially when your meals are at Hogwarts. How could anyone say no to food like this?

I'm not sure how I was doing it, but I was.

"Tami! My favorite girl!"

"Sirius?" I looked at him confused. All the girls had stopped talking too, and were watching us with looks of confusion equal to my own.

"Yeah, that's my name. So, what's going on?" he began piling food onto his plate, as if he sat here everyday. As if he even talked to me. What _was_ going on?

"I don't know. You tell me. Did you sustain a head injury or something?"

"I fogah how funny you ah" he said with his mouth full.

I cringed. Seeing the chewed up, saliva-infused food in his mouth was not helping my appetite.

"Okay then" I stood up, and left the table. Practice wasn't going to start for at least another hour, but that didn't bother me. It was never too early to play Quiditch, after all.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Anyone who wasn't me would have been tired after vigorous Quiditch practice for an hour. And anyone other than me would have died if they realized they had another many hours for team practice afterwards. Thankfully, I could handle so much playing in one day.

When I saw James and the others pouring out of the changing rooms and onto the field, I flew back down. I hit the ground with nothing other than gracefulness and walked to where they were standing.

"I hope you're not tired out, little prodigy" James said as I walked up.

I rolled my eyes. "Fresh as a daisy"

"Good, because we really need to practice harder. If it we were expected to play Hufflepuff, I probably wouldn't even hold this practice at all. But it's Ravenclaw and they're almost as good as Slytherin, just minus the nastiness."

"And we don't mean their attitude" Sirius added. Everyone else on the team laughed. I couldn't help but smile. I had to hate the Slytherins, and not just because of the house rivalry.

"All right, so everyone in your places!"

"One second, Mr. Potter. I have to speak to you for a moment" McGonagall stepped out of what seemed like no where, and took our captain to the side.

I decided to wait this out by talking to Lily and the other girls. They were sitting in the bleachers; probably because Marlene had to have a glimpse of her Sirius Black.

"Here to watch James?" I asked Lily.

She tried to smack my head, but I stepped back before she could.

"Ha ha, Tami, you're honestly hilarious"

"I know" I shrugged.

"Oh my god -" Marlene gasped.

"Yes, yes, Sirius is quite amazing" Lily said in a monotone voice. I laughed.

"No, look at the guy with McGonagall. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so…"

"Scary-looking?" Lily asked.

"Mysterious!" Marlene hissed, annoyed. I turned to look, too.

Marlene was - of course - correct. He did have that mysterious look about him, but Lily was right too; he seemed sort of scary. Was he a Gryffindor? Was he going to be on the team? I couldn't be sure from this distance, but what I did know was that Sirius Black had finally met his match…. looks wise, anyway.

* * *

**Breaking Benjamnin 3 You gotta love them!**


	18. Keeping Composure

**'Keeping Composure'**

**Tami's POV:**

"I found out the scoop" Marlene said as she sat down at our table.

I was definitely interested in knowing about this new guy, but it wasn't my nature to let these kinds of things be obvious. I didn't want everyone else to know that I - just like every other girl in the school, apparently - fancied our new classmate. Conformist was not in my dictionary, but neither was intimidation. So why was I afraid of what everyone else would think? Or maybe I was just afraid that he would find out if I told. Whatever the reason was, I kept my feelings to myself, and made it seem like I couldn't care less.

"What did you find out?"

"Well, he's in Gryffindor. _Obviously_, since everyone saw where he was sitting at breakfast"

"Okay, and?" I couldn't believe that even Lily was interested in this guy!

"He transferred from another country"

"What country?" I couldn't help asking.

"Ecuador, I think. I don't know. Who cares? He's amazing!"

"You don't even know him" I pointed out, realistically.

"So? I can't fantasize about him?"

"Well, you can't say that he's amazing"

"Oh get off your high horse. I can always get to know him, and then I'll prove to you just how amazing he is"

"I bet he's not amazing at all"

"Well," Marlene continued, ignoring me. I just rolled my eyes and went back to my potions essay. "I also heard that he's some kind of professional Quiditch player back where he comes from and he's going to join the Gryffindor team. _Without_ a tryout too! That's better than even you, Tami"

I knew she was just saying that in anger and spite because I wasn't totally in love with the new guy (or so I made it seem), but I couldn't stop myself from getting mad.

"Whatever you say" I slammed my books shut and left the library table.

"Marlene, you shouldn't have said that" Lily whispered. Not softly enough to escape my ears.

* * *

**Sirius' POV:**

I hated feeling like I was stalking Tami just because I was walking past the library… for the fifteenth time. James had put me up to this, insisting that I spend more time with her. But she just wouldn't budge!

"Hey Tami!"

"Sirius" she acknowledged, without even glancing at me. "Why are you following me around? As if I don't have enough problems to deal with"

I walked next to her as she made her way to the Gryffindor tower. "I'm not following you around, I just…" I ruffled my hair in exhaustion; what was I supposed to say?

"You _can_ just tell me the truth, you know. What do you want from me?"

"All right, fine. James wants me to be your friend because he thinks that this little… problem between us will interfere with Quiditch"

She snorted. It really did sound ridiculous. Maybe I just thought that because _I_ was feeling ridiculous for listening to him.

"Okay, so we'll just be friends and stop trying to make each other look stupid" she shrugged and turned around to face me.

"Okay…" That was easy.

It was right at that moment that the common room door opened up and out stepped the new kid. I had to work hard to keep my composure, and to not punch him hard in the face.

Tami turned around to see who it was, and for once - thank god - I did not see her melt for this guy. She stepped out of the way politely and turned back to face me. I couldn't help but feel surprised, because honestly! What girl in this school did not fancy Ricky Van Buren? His name didn't even sound Ecuadorian!

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, once he had left.

"You're not head-over-heels in love with the new guy?" I smirked. Finally, a girl with sense.

"Not really. I mean, he's good looking and all. People are saying he's better looking than you even, but-"

"He just can't compare, right?"

"You're such a git" and she smiled. "See you later"

Maybe I needed to be Tami's friend right now. Just until this new guy stopped infesting my school.

* * *

**Tami's POV:**

I never thought keeping my composure could be so hard; especially when I turned and our eyes met. And having Sirius question me about my attitude didn't help at all. I wanted so much to just melt there right on the spot. What was wrong with me?

I leaned against the wall for a few minutes with my eyes closed.

"Are you okay? I heard someone ask. Just some third year.

I didn't bother answering. Quickly, I made my way across the common room and up to the girls' dormitories.

"Lily's not feeling good, so she's probably not coming to class today" Marlene informed me, as we made our way out of the dining hall.

"We should stop by during lunch"

"Sure"

We entered the potions classroom and Marlene went to her seat next to Alice. I sat at the empty table, which should've had Lily, too. I wondered if Lily was only avoiding classes because she didn't want to see Snivellus. She was always fighting with him, but not as much as with James.

"And where may I ask is Ms. Evans?" Slughorn asked, to no one in particular.

"She's sick, sir" I answered.

"That's not good. Ah, I shall send her something to cheer her up later on; maybe something from Hogsmede." he pretty much said to himself. "For today, Mr. Van Buuren, I would like you to sit in Ms. Evans seat. Yes, right there, next to Ms. Valentine"

I could almost feel the hatred emancipating from every other girl in the room. Even some of the Slytherin girls were giving me a glare. But there was one more glare in the room, that was not coming from a girl. Sirius was giving Ricky a look that could make flowers wilt.

Suddenly, today didn't seem like a very good day. Lily obviously had the right idea.


	19. Honorable Actions

'**Honorable Actions'**

**Tami's POV:**

"Hello" he said softly. It was enough pressure having to sit next to him in potions; now I was expected to endure another hour of defense against the dark arts with the new guy. He hadn't tried to talk to me in potions, so I couldn't understand why he was trying to talk to me now.

"Hullo" I answered politely.

"I didn't get the chance to introduce myself before; I'm -"

"I know who you are" I said quickly. I stared straight ahead at the blackboard.

"Dark creatures can be quite fascinating" he said, looking at where I was staring.

This made me look at him. "I hate dark things" I replied, with obvious hostility.

"Yes, I'm not a big fan of them either…" he responded slowly. "But the first step in defeating something is to better understand it"

"That's… perceptive of you" I said uncertainly. What was the point in bringing this up? I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"Yes, well… my life demands me to be"

His tone of voice was not angry or bitter, but almost amusing. I looked up to see his smiling eyes looking down at me.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, what's he like?" Marlene asked me the next day, as we walked down to lunch. All the Gryffindor girls - along with some Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws (even a gossip topic like this couldn't convince Slytherins to talk to us Gryffindors) - were walking alongside me. I hated being the center of attention when it came to situations like this.

"He's nothing special, _honestly_" I replied, rolling my eyes.

All the girls scowled at my lack of cooperation and slowly they began to drift away in groups. Soon it was just me and Lily walking together.

"I know Marlene can be a bit much sometimes" Lily said. "You're still sort of new; you'll get used to it eventually."

I shrugged. It wasn't so bad, to tell you the truth. So she needed drama to fuel her life. It made no difference to me; just as long as she didn't drag me into the middle of any of it.

We entered the Great Hall and made our way to the Gryffindor table. Our seats ended up being too close to Sirius and the others. James immediately took Lily's attention away from me, Remus was reading a book and Peter was… lost as usual. So that left me to talk alone with Sirius.

"How's life treating you?" he asked, smirking. I began to wonder how much percentage of the day he spent with that conceited smirk on his face.

"Horribly" I answered. "Especially during potions, defense against the dark arts and whenever Marlene's around and obsessing"

"Oh right, the _new guy_" the smirk turned into a scowl in less than two seconds. "So he's what's making your life horrible?"

"I suppose" I said, thinking as I ate a spoonful of chicken. "I mean, he doesn't treat me horribly or anything"

It was quite the opposite, actually. I thought back to today, in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"_I hope your friend is well?" he said, as we copied down notes from the board._

"_My friend?" I asked, confused._

"_Yes, I believe her name is Lily? Lily Evans? She was sick yesterday, and I was fortunate enough to take her seat"_

"_Oh, yes. She's well"_

_There was an awkward pause. I was trying my best to discourage conversation, but he was just too stubborn._

"_I have to admit, though; I was slightly disappointed that she decided to come to classes today"_

"_Why?" I had taken a bite for the bait, but I had no idea yet._

"'_Cause I didn't get the chance to sit next to you"_

"So why is it so horrible?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. Everyone's so infatuated with him"

"Except you" Sirius noted.

I wish I could believe it just as much as he did, but deep down I knew that wasn't true.

* * *

**Sirius' POV:**

It was hard seeing my school being taken over by someone who had spent exactly two days in the school. James and I were sitting in the common room, just talking and looking around.

My eyes fell on the new guy, who was sitting and reading. Then they traveled a few feet away, where a group of girls were giggling like drunken baboons. They were not supposed to be watching _him_ like that; they were supposed to be watching me!

"Come on, Sirius, get over it" my attention snapped back to Remus.

"Where did you come from?" I asked, my mind wandering once more.

"From the library" Where else? I rolled me eyes… typical Remus. "And don't change the subject, Sirius. You have to get over this kid. He's new meat, so of course everyone's going to be falling all over him"

"Everyone seriously is! Over this guy! What's so special about him? What does he have…"

"That you don't? James finished for me. "Nothing, mate, Remus is right. You have to let it go. Hey, at least Tami's not affected by him, right?"

"I'm starting to doubt that" I said as I saw Tami and Lily walk into the common room. Tami's eyes immediately glanced at Ricky and then away, somewhere else. I may have believed it before; that she felt no attraction to him. But it was obvious that she did.

This kid was a nuisance. Trying to come into _my_ school and take it over? I don't think so.

Snivellus was no threat to me, or any of my friends. He was almost a joke when it came to being a threat. This kid was becoming a more and more serious problem as the minutes ticked by. I had to do _something_.

* * *

**Tami's POV:**

It was probably bad to be doing so, but I was starting to look forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's not that he had won me over or anything; that was hardly the issue. It was just interesting to see what he would talk to me about next. Sometimes he kept the conversation light and easy, but other times it got too intense for me. He was good at getting you to reveal things you would rather keep to yourself.

For the most part, I tried to keep myself out of his speculation. Anytime I felt vulnerable, I completely shut down. I used my work as an excuse; my need for very good grades.

But I couldn't deny the fact that he intrigued me beyond anyone I had ever met.

"Today we will be discussing werewolves and their unique traits"

"I think we know enough about werewolves, eh Moony?' Sirius whispered. I was the only one who heard it, but I shrugged it off. Secrets of the notorious Gryffindor four were not important to me at the moment. I did, however, see Snivellus take an interest in the whispered conversation currently going on between Sirius and James.

I pulled out my wand silently and aimed it at him. I did have no interest in their secrets, but I wasn't about to let them get revealed to Snivellus.

"Petrificus Totalus" I whispered, and watched smugly as Snape froze in his eavesdropping position and toppled over the table.

The Gryffindor half of the class erupted into laughter.

"Mr. Snape! Please get back into your seat"

A fellow Slytherin performed the counter-curse, and Snape hurried back up to his seat.

Sirius and James looked stunned and confused at the fact that someone had just crashed into their chairs; let alone their worst enemy. Sirius must've seen the smug look on my face, and must have realized why I had curse Snape in the first place. He gave me an appreciative nod of the head.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter" Sirius turned back to the front of the classroom. "Seeing as you're usually the ones to pull these trivial stunts-"

Sirius stood up and jumped onto the table. "Professor, I would love to confess that this was my doing - or my faithful friend's -" James bowed his head gratefully. "But I am disappointed to say that it was not us this time. Someone else must hate grease"

Sirius sat back down, as every Gryffindor scoffed at the Slytherins and snickered to themselves.

"I don't get paid enough for this…"

"That was… honorable of you" Ricky whispered to me. I jumped. Was it possible for me to have forgotten he was sitting _right there_?

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Yes you do" he replied confidently. "I am sitting next to you, you know. It wouldn't escape my notice if you took out your wand"

"Fine then, you know it was me. What's the big deal?" I snapped, looking up at him.

"There is no big deal. I'm just in awe of your honorable actions"

His steady gaze held mine for what felt like ages. Finally, he broke the eye contact and I found it possible to turn my attention back onto werewolves.


	20. Chances

**'Chances'**

**Tami's POV:**

I was relieved when the next Hogsmede weekend came up. It was the best and easiest way to avoid Ricky. No classes for him to talk to me in and no common room for him to bother me in either. Even the library wasn't safe anymore! Since Ricky was such an avid reader.

Hogsmede meant open air, multiple choices for hiding places, and the chance to be in the company of my friends. What more could I possibly ask for?

* * *

"I can't believe this" I said, watching everyone but Sirius walk out of the Three Broomsticks.

"I know what you mean" he replied.

"How could they do this? I mean, we had plans! How could they just walk out with _him_?"

"Because they're all under his spell!" Sirius sat up and slammed his fist on the table. "Seriously, there's something wrong with that guy."

"I know" I replied, slamming the table, too. "He keeps-", I stopped suddenly. I wasn't close to Sirius, per se. We just spent a lot of time together because we were each other's only company (that we could stand, anyway). Could I really confide in him what had been bothering me for so many days?

"He keeps what? What's wrong?"

I now had Sirius Black's full attention; something every girl dreamed of. Was it supposed to feel this uncomfortable?

"Nothing… really. It's just -", I sighed. "He's unnecessarily nice to me, he finds stupid reasons to talk to me, he's always where I am, and it's like… I don't know"

Sirius leaned back and put his hands over his eyes in agitation.

"He likes you" Sirius finally said.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "What? That's ridiculous -"

"No, it's not. He finds excuses to talk to you? He wants to _get to know you_? Or at least he means to make it seem that way; if he's anything like me…" Sirius chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, "done reminiscing?" I asked the foggy-eyed boy sitting in front of me.

"Shut up" he snapped. "Come on, let's leave this joint"

Sirius dropped a few coins on the table and grabbed my hand. In one swift movement, he had us out the door and walking down the street. There went my vow of feminism.

* * *

"Where are we going?" I asked Sirius for the millionth time.

"I told you, I'm giving you a grand tour of Hogsmede!"

"First of all, I've seen Hogsmede before, and second; you're not showing me anything! In fact -", I looked around us to make sure "we're headed back to the castle."

"We are headed back to the castle grounds, yes. And why do you have to be so difficult all the time? Do you think I'd let anything happen to you?"

"Well, this could be a prank." I said, rationally.

"Oh, dear Tami" Sirius' arm suddenly fell around my shoulder, "I think our relationship with each other has entered a more mature level by now"

"You're the exact opposite of mature"

"That is not true!"

"You know it is"

"Just be quiet" he pushed me away playfully.

"I don't take orders from you" I said. I pushed him back.

We spent the next few yards taking turns pushing each other. We were halfway up to the Whomping Willow when I took the next step in playful violence, and jumped onto his back. We went tumbling back down, laughing and trying to get as few bruises as possible.

With anyone else, the position we landed in would probably have been nothing but awkward but with Sirius, anything and everything felt natural. That's just the kind of guy he was. I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"You're falling in love with me, aren't you?"

"No… you have leaves and twigs and - oh, is that a beetle?" I made a gesture as if to reach into his hair.

His hand swiftly beat mind, and he began frantically beating his hair, messing it up even more. I started to laugh.

He glared at me and leaned down closer, "you know, you ruined what could have bee n a very romantic moment"

"Oh, really?" I asked.

"Yes, really"

"Oh well, my loss…"

Sirius rolled off me and lay down on the grass; we were shoulder to shoulder, looking up into the darkening sky.

"Where were you going to take me?"

"Just this place" he answered.

It was silent for a few minutes.

"Only special people are allowed there. Mostly just… the Marauders." He added, as an afterthought.

The Marauders was the nickname that the four boys (Sirius, James, Peter and Remus) called themselves. Sirius was nicknamed Padfoot, James was Prongs, Peter was Wormtail and Remus was Mooney. There were many rumors as to where the names came from, but I refused to believe any of them. I was curious to know, though, if the rumor that they possessed a 'magical' map was true. (Apparently, this map showed you ever niche, corner and cupboard that existed in the castle, along with every single hidden passageway the boys had found so far.)01

"What are you doing?" James' face appeared out of the darkness, followed by all our other friends, and Ricky. I hadn't realized that Sirius had taken my hand that, at the moment right before we had been interrupted, we had looked like the perfect Hogwarts couple.

**Sirius' POV:**

I know Tami could move fast, but the speed at which she jumped up was fast enough to surprise me. She stood, facing the rest of them, but made no attempts to explain herself. I could understand why; I wasn't sure how to explain this either.

I stood up and smirked, putting my arm around Tami's shoulders. "Don't you guys know? Tami and I are together now."

Out of the many shocked faces, only four turned into anger; Ricky's, James', Lily's and… well, Tami's.

Tami pushed me away and gave me a glare. "You're so stupid. Guys, he's lying"

"I prefer the term 'joking'. Come on, let's go up to the towers before we get in trouble"

"As if you care about getting in trouble" Remus commented as we mad our way to the front doors.

"It's a full moon tonight" I replied, nonchalantly.

* * *

I padded over to the best resting spot in the crumbling establishment and rested my head over my paws. I had just barely missed being severely injured by Remus. James had decided to take him on a walk through the Forbidden Forest, and I had opted out. Normally, I wouldn't have, but tonight I felt like taking some thinking time.

What did I want to think about, though? I racked my brain for what could possibly make me skip out on adventuring with James and the others. I couldn't think of anything.

"Maybe I should just sleep"

But that was impossible for me to do, too. Why couldn't I think properly or concentrate on simple takes, like _sleeping_? I stood up and began pacing around. The only sounds were the creaking underneath my feet and the Whomping Willow in the distance. Then suddenly, a low howl from somewhere on the grounds traveled across the grounds. I walked over to the window, and thought maybe it was best to join James after all.

I looked up at the sky; the moon was completely covered my clouds. Better for Remus, I suppose. My eyes fell on the North tower; the third window from the top was the room that Lily was in. And the room that right now had a light on. I wondered if Tami was staying in Lily's room or somewhere else. I hadn't been to the window since the previous year.

"I must make another visit soon", I smiled at the prospect of a new prank.

It was a good thing I was in dog form, because my normal human eyes would never have seen the movement in the shadows. I followed the figure closely with my trained eyes. Not graceful, mostly clumsy, very afraid. Cautious. Thin, lanky, un-coordinated.

I growled, instinctively, and my fur began to bristle. (One turn off about being an animal; your actions are completely controlled by your instincts.) I got control of my anger, turned around and swiftly bounded down the steps.

Something smelled distinctively like grease.

**Tami's POV:**

Lily and I sat quietly together in the dimly lit room. She had been treating me strangely all through dinner and was still treating me in the same cold manner; ever since the guys had found me with Sirius. Everyone else had gone back to normal in the matter of a few minutes, but Lily was still acting the same and I couldn't understand it. Even Marlene, whose fancy for Sirius had still not yet subsided, had forgotten about the whole thing.

"Is that the charms essay you're doing?"

"Yes". Lily said coldly. She didn't even bother looking up.

"I tried doing it earlier." I said, trying for conversation again. "Couldn't understand what Flitwick wanted us to write."

"Hm" she replied.

"Maybe you can help me?" I added weakly.

"I suppose"

I had had enough. "Lily!"

"What?" She snapped, finally looking up at me.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Oh yes, yes you do. Ever since you found me with Sirius, you-"

"He's dangerous!" She exclaimed, throwing her quill down. "Don't fall for his games, Tami! You deserve someone so much better!"

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You and Sirius"

I looked at her, bemused, until it finally hit me.

"Hold on a second, you think there's something going on between…"

Lily nodded, as if the idea was obvious.

I burst out laughing.

"You're mad, you know that, right? Completely mad!"

"So you're saying there's nothing?"

"Oh Lily, of course there's nothing! I've just been spending so much time with him because all of you have been spending time with Ricky."

"He's really not that bad"

"Lily-" I began, rolling my eyes.

"Really! He's nice, and funny. And… he keeps asking about you. Honestly, it's about to drive Marlene up the wall. She's been throwing herself at him for days now, but he only seems interested in you!"

I shrugged, trying to act unaffected.

"If you don't mind me saying, I think he likes you"

"So? Why does that matter?

"You should give him a chance. Let him get comfortable around you" she replied, going back to her essay.

"Give him a chance?"

Lily nodded. "And stop being so protective of yourself; you just end up seeming really rude. There's nothing wrong with letting people into your life"

"I know that" I said, climbing into bed. I did, didn't I?

* * *

**I thought this chapter would end up being longer than usual :[ I was trying to make up for not updating over such a long period of time.**

**Sorry peoples ! School's demanding as hell.**

**By the way, new poll up :] vote vote vote !**


	21. The Whole World Argues

**'The Whole World Argues'**

**Tami's POV:**

I sat down next to Ricky and prepared for the conversation to start, but nothing happened. I looked at him, but he was just copying notes. He didn't look down at me, like he usually did, or even acknowledge my existence with a greeting.

"Hi" I finally said.

He glanced at me then nodded, but said nothing.

I attempted another try. "No twenty questions today?"

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood" he replied, emotionless.

I thought about what Lily said. Could he really like me? Considering the way he was treating me, I found it impossible to believe. But he had only started avoiding me after seeing me with Sirius. Was it possible that he was jealous?

I smiled. His jealousy over me was kind of sweet.

"I guess it's my turn then" I directed my smile at him.

He stopped writing and looked down at me. He held the eye contact as if trying to intimidate me, but it proved to no avail. His eyes searched mine for what? I didn't know.

"Wouldn't Sirius get mad if he saw us?"

"Saw us what? Talking?"

"Yes, he has a very bad temper, you know"

I looked over at Sirius, leaning back in his chair, catching up on the sleep he had missed out on last night.

"I suppose, but why does that matter?"

"Isn't that why you were avoiding me?"

I was taken aback. For two reasons, one; he had caught me despite my attempts to be discreet about avoiding him. Two; he thought it was because of Sirius?

"I was not avoiding you, especially not because of Sirius."

"Then?"

"I – you were – it -" I stopped and took a badly needed, deep breath. Does that really matter? I'm trying to make peace now."

Ricky smiled, "I suppose not"

"So we can be friends?"

"I guess we'll find out"

**Sirius' POV:**

I caught up to Lily as she made her way down to her favorite spot near the lake.

"Where's Tami?"

"She's over there" Lily pointed somewhere behind us, at what was certainly Tami... sitting and laughing with the new guy.

"What's she doing with him?" I scowled.

"They're studying"

Lily continued walking and so did I. "Yes, that really looks like studying to me" I said, as Ricky produced a rose out of thin air and handed it to Tami. I could see her go red all the way from where I was standing.

"Sirius, it's really none of your business, so why don't you leave Tami alone?"

"I can't" I snapped. I froze.

"What?" Lily asked, turning.

"Nothing, forget it" I replied hastily. I walked away, trying to put as much distance as possible between Lily and myself.

"What's wrong, mate?" James asked, sitting across from me in the common room.

"Tami's off with -"

"Ricky. I saw"

I nodded.

"Why is that such a big deal though?"

"Because she's the only one who wasn't completely head over heels in love with him! I thought we were actually becoming friends"

"Well, you can still be friends with her, even if she's friends with Ricky too"

"No, it's just not the same. I thought we were like a team, you know? Fighting against the stranger trying to take over this school"

"He's not trying to take over the school, Sirius. You're just being-"

"I'd rather not know" I stood up before James could finish, and went up to the dormitories.

I pulled out my racing broom, grabbed James' cloak (he didn't usually mind me borrowing it) and flew out the window.

Flying just seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

"Okay, everybody line up!"

I stood still and watched as the whole team tried to assemble itself into a straight line. When everyone was ready to go (not in a relatively straight line, I might add), James started pacing back in forth in front of us.

"Slytherin" he hissed.

The whole team booed. I didn't react at all; not even an eye roll. Everyone was just annoying me right now; there was no point in taking house sides or any type of sides as a matter of fact. I caught Tami's eye and she smiled at me. Traitor! What did she expect; me to smile back? That would never happen. I looked away, indifferently.

"We're going to beat them. We're the best team in the whole school! We've been practicing night and day, and we're ready to face any danger"

Whooping and high-fiving

"But we could all use some more practice"

Groans and grumbling

I flew around the score posts, my sight switching from Tami to Ricky. They seemed to be coordinating – a little too well, if you asked me. It was a good thing that they both were chasers, otherwise watching them would've been dangerous for my game. And for my head, since James seemed just about ready to explode.

"TAMI, NO! If you play like that in the game against Slytherin…"

I lost interest, and contented myself with watching Ricky instead. Everyone was flying back to the ground, except him. He was hovering nearby, watching the confrontation between Tami and James. Soon, he was involved with the arguing too, and it was up to me to solve things, as usual.

"Come on, guys, let's just call it a night. We can continue practice tomorrow or something" I put my hand on James' shoulder to silence him.

"Fine" he said reluctantly. Then he flew back to the ground.

"He's just a little nervous. Don't take it personally" I directed my words at Tami, and Tami alone.

Ricky got the hint, nodded at Tami and then flew down, too. I watched him walk off the field and into the changing rooms.

"Come on" Tami said. I looked at where she had been before, but she wasn't there anymore. She was some distance away.

"Where are you going?"

"We, not just me, and we're flying around. What else?" She smirked.

"I know we're flying, I -" I looked at the full-out smile forming on her face. "Never mind"

"It's been a long time since we've talked" Tami said.

"And why is that?" I responded sarcastically.

She shot me a look.

"It's nothing, Sirius. He's really not that bad"

"Not that bad? Just a few days ago, you hated him!

"He's not the person I thought he was. He's really nice, and he's funny, and -"

"Is he better than me?"

"Sirius" she shot me another look.

"What?"

"It's not a competition. There are no sides"

"Because the only person on my side is me"

"You're sounding like such a git right now, you know that?"

"Oh, am I?"

I stopped in mid-air. Tami turned to face me.

"Yes, you really are! This is no competition. I didn't like him before, but that's because I didn't really know him. Now that I do, I realize he's not so bad. And no, he's not better than you. You guys are in completely different categories."

"There's just something wrong with him."

"That's what you used to think about me, right? And look at our friendship now! Or at least, the friendship that used to exist"

I felt my gut tighten. We weren't friends anymore?

"You know what your problem is? You just can't stand it when someone a little more popular or a little funnier or a _better prankster_ comes along. You hate not being the best, but when will you realize that no one is perfect! You can't be the best at everything."

"You -"

"And you know what? Just because Ricky's here doesn't mean that anyone loves you less. You're still the disheveled-haired slacker, who makes everyone laugh. No one can take that away from you"

It was probably the first time I had ever been speechless. I stared at her, and she stared back. Then she turned and flew away. Before I could even react, she was long gone.

She really was an amazing flier.

**Tami's POV:**

I was leaving the Great Hall, after an exceptionally well-made lunch, when Lily found me. She looked like she had seen a ghost; her face was pale and her breathing shallow.

"What's wrong?" I immediately asked.

Lily leaned against the wall, and gasped for air. "Sirius… Ricky… fist…"

"Seriously Ricky fist?" I asked, confused.

"No, no… Sirius and Ricky… are in a fist… fight"

"What!" I exclaimed, and ran the direction Lily had come.

It wasn't hard to find the fight. Everyone was crowded around the two, as if something like this was so interesting. And I suppose it was, to a bunch of neanderthals! I pulled out my wand and pushed my way through the crowd. When I reached the middle, I saw flashes of color rolling back and forth. Sirius and Ricky really were in a fist fight. Their wands lay abandoned nearby.

I grabbed their wands, stuck them in my pockets, and directed my wand between them. I had used this spell so many times before, but I couldn't be sure if it would work the way I wanted it to.

"Protego!"

A shimmering wall of magic spread between Sirius and Ricky, throwing them in opposite directions and ceasing the fist fight. Both Sirius and Ricky gave me the death glare, not realizing their hatred was supposed to be directed at each other.

"Detention!" I jumped at McGonagall's voice. "A month's worth. Not only did you two set horrible examples for your younger peers, you didn't even have the decency to do it properly. Fighting with your fists? Your wands thrown away carelessly! What are you two; a pair of barbaric baboons?"

"Sorry, ma'am" Sirius muttered. Then he turned and stalked off. Ricky walked off in the other direction, unlike a Sirius' naïve reaction.

I watched both of them go and realized there was only one I could follow. Sirius or Ricky?

I sighed. Their wands were still in my pockets. I pulled them out and called a fellow Gryffindor over.

"Here, give this to Ricky" I handed Ricky's wand over, and began my trek to where I had a feeling Sirius was hiding.


	22. Trapped Again

'**Trapped Again'**

**Sirius' POV:**

I woke up the next morning, and realized that I no longer wanted to see Tami. As in, I never wanted to see her anywhere near me again. Of course, that was going to be a little difficult; considering the fact that we were in the same house and in all the same classes.

Not to mention the Quiditch team.

Oh god.

I was never going to get away from her! She was always going to be around to butt into my life, and I couldn't do anything to stop that! I'd just have to ignore her.

But ignoring her was easier said than done... unless she kept to her word...

[Last night]

"Sirius, wait!"

"Go back, Tami. I don't want to talk to you"

"What was that all about?" Tami demanded.

"None of your business, all right? Just stay out of my life" I turned around and found her face just a few inches from mine.

She looked a little shocked, "you don't mean that"

"I do mean that. Just stay away" I hissed. I turned back around and increased my pace.

"Fine!" she shouted after me. "I don't care! I'm never going to speak to you again, you hear?"

I gestured an acknowledgement with my hand. Okay, Tami. Okay.

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I stepped into Transfiguration class, early for once. I just couldn't get back to sleep once I had woken up. McGonagall gave me a questioning look, but before she could start on me, the rest of the class filled in.

I saw my three best friends (sneer right here, by the way) separate themselves from Ricky and join me at our corner. James took his seat next to me, Remus and Peter filled the two seats in front of us.

"Had fun with your new group member?" I spat.

"What in Merlin's-" James began.

"Hey, don't bring Merlin into this. He wasn't a traitor like you guys"

"Sirius?" Remus turned and gave me a confused look.

"Shut it, class is starting" I growled, and pretended to turn my attention to the black board. I was too angry to really pay attention.

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"Hey, mate, what's with you?" James sat in the armchair across from me. I had been peacefully staring into the fire with infuriating anger, before he had interrupted me.

"Nothing, _mate_" I couldn't help it. Everything I said came out sounding sarcastic and angry.

"All right, listen to me" James sat at the edge of his seat. His eyes were narrowed at me – not in anger, but serious, none the less. "Ricky is not one of us. He's a Gryffindor, yes; but that only means he's an acquaintance. He's not joining the Marauders. He's not going to become the leader or the captain of anything. And lastly, he's not going to replace you. You have got to get over this. He's not taking anything of yours!"

"I know that!" I snapped. And I really did. I was over that whole possessiveness behavior. What bothered me was... well...I wasn't even sure.

"What is it then?"

I looked around the nearly empty common room to avoid answering. My eyes fell on a little group studying in the corner. I watched the light bounce of the glossy black hair, as Tami laughed. At something _he_ said.

"You cannot be serious" Remus' voice broke my trance.

I looked up at him, too startled to be angry. "What?"

"You like her, don't you?"

"What, no!"

"You –" Remus began, but James gave him a piercing look. I thanked him mentally for giving me a break just this once.

Not that their assumptions were even true. I looked each of them in the eye.

It wasn't true. It just wasn't.

They were being ridiculous.

**Tami's POV:**

I immediately felt my muscles relax after James sent Sirius to take Peck to the hospital wing. How could you be paying so little attention that you get hit by a bludger? It just didn't make sense.

I wasn't complaining, though. The break from the tension was a godsend. I could finally focus on all my friends without feeling like I had to watch myself. It seemed like the tension left the team altogether. Soon we were playing our best once again, and even messing around while we were doing it.

"Tami, can you go get Remus for me?" James called.

"Why?"

"He's pretty good at potions, and he's not distracting at Lily. I think we need someone to cure this"

I looked at our fellow team member and grimaced. His face was breaking out in warts so bad he couldn't talk.

"Okay, I'll be back"

**Sirius' POV:**

I sat at a desk, waiting for Peter to come back. I was on my way back to the grounds when I bumped into him. He pretty much attacked me actually, saying that he had something to show me.

I heard the door creak open, and then close. I waited for Peter to rush up to me, and waste more of my time, but nothing happened.

"You could've taken longer" I said, getting up.

A blast of light grazed my ear. I whipped out my wand and got behind the chair just in time to miss another curse.

"Come out, brother dear" someone snarled.

Regulus.

I jumped up and shot a spell at him, which he effortlessly deflected.

"Now now, I'm not here to duel"

"That's why you shot a curse at me?"

"Your guard was down. It was too good an opportunity."

"What do you want, Regulus? I've been staying out of your way; you've been staying out of mine. What is it?" I hissed.

"What, can't I find out what's going on in my loving brother's life?"

"You don't have a loving brother"

His eyes flashed. "True, but that doesn't mean I'm not _interested_ in your life"

"_What do you want?_"

"Keep your temper under control, Sirius." Regulus pocketed his wand, but I kept mine out. I couldn't trust him. Not one bit.

"I hear you have some new girlfriend. I believe her name is Tami?"

I didn't reply.

"Word is that you're pretty serious about her, but unfortunately, she cares about someone else."

I watched him pace the room, with narrowed eyes.

"Guess your _good looks_ can't get you everything" he sneered.

I ignored the implied insult.

"What's it to you, Regulus? What's the point?"

"It would be a shame if she got hurt" he whispered.

My rage reached a new high, and I shot a spell in his direction. He just barely dodged this one. I fell behind the chair before he could get aim at me.

"You won't win hiding behind objects, Sirius. Come out and play"

Unbelievably, he was right. I couldn't hide from him; I couldn't let him get any advantages over me or find any weaknesses. I couldn't show him any mercy, despite the fact that he was my blood and flesh. That relationship had died a long time ago.

I stepped out again, ready to shoot a spell at him, but he was already on the floor and unconscious. Standing over him was Tami.

"Did you kill him?" I asked hopefully.

She gave me a confused look. "No...he's just knocked out. For now"

I shook my head in frustration. It would be too much to ask that he should die so easily.

"Well, I thought Remus was here..." Tami started taking a few steps back. "I think I'll just go now...seeing as he's not...in the room."

Tami turned around and tried to leave, but she couldn't get the door open. Girls.

"Feeling a little weak?" I asked, walking around Regulus' limp body.

"I am not weak" she growled. Still, she stepped out of my way and let me do the job.

I smirked at her and prepared to show her who was boss. It didn't budge.

The door was locked.

Tami and I were stuck inside together.

With my arch enemy lying unconscious only three feet away.

I was going to kill Peter.

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**Marie Digby is very talented. Youtube her :]**


	23. Secret Revealed

**'Secret Revealed'**

**Tami's POV**

I looked at the dark-haired boy now tied up in the corner. He looked so much like Sirius, it was astounding. Of course, I had seen him before; I made sure to, after hearing Sirius' family story. But being this close to him – seeing his face this closely – it was almost sad to know that two brothers, who looked so alike on the outside, had to be so different on the inside. I turned my attention to Sirius. I couldn't see his face, since he was facing the window and looking outside.

It had probably been a couple of hours since we were locked in. The sky was getting dark, and I was getting tired. I just wanted to get to the dormitories and sleep.

The door unlocked. "So, are you two best friends again?" James entered, grinning.

I hate that I'd have to wipe the smile off his face.

I looked over at Sirius, who was looking back at me. His eyes were now cold and hard, whereas before, they had almost seemed friendly again. I guess things were never going to get better between us.

"It's best if you stop trying to get us to be friends again" Sirius said.

"Seriously, James, we're...never going to be as close as we were before. But that doesn't mean we can't work together as a team"

I felt Sirius' eyes on me, but I refused to look back. I don't know why, but the finality of these words hurt too much to say.

"Come on, guys. If we let our team have weak links like these, we're giving our opponents the advantage"

"I'm sorry, but it's just not going to happen. I don't want to be friends with her anymore"

That hurt too.

Sirius led James out the door, arguing with him the whole way.

I followed them, but before I could, Regulus spoke. "You better watch it"

He probably thought Sirius was still in the room. I looked at him and saw his eyes open, staring at me; very, very aware of who he was talking to.

**Sirius' POV**

I didn't appreciate James' interfering, and I made that clear for the next few days. Luckily for him, OWLs were approaching fast, and I barely had time to scold him. (Yes, I was actually studying; library and all!)

Sometimes James and the others would join me, and I'd get my chance to speak my mind to him.

"Sirius, I said I was sorry! You can stop it now"

"No, actually I can't. I'm having too much fun with this" I grinned at him.

In retaliation, he punched me in the arm. That started a punching war, which was eventually stopped by the librarian. (Although I bet Remus was getting ready to stop us himself)

"Guys, you remember what tonight is, right?"

"How can we forget, Remus? It's our favorite time of month"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Is there anything you take seriously?"

"No, not really" I shrugged.

"Shh" James whispered. "Muffliato"

"Who's listening?"

"I just saw something greasy in between those two books there"

"Snivellus" I hissed. Saying his name left a disgusting taste in my mouth. "Leave this one to me"

James nodded, and they all went back to studying. Silently, I slipped out of my seat and went around the bookcase. I stepped up close behind Snape.

"Heard anything interesting?"

Snape yelped pulling out his wand and trying to aim it at me. I was too fast for him and I wrestled the wand out of his hand quickly.

"You're so interested in our lives, aren't you Snivellus?" I had him pinned against the bookcase.

"Why don't you come and see for yourself? Go to the Whomping Willow and prod the knot at the base of the tree with a stick."

Snape shook his head no.

"No? Why not? Aren't you curious? I know you, Snivellus. I know you want to know...and I know you'll do this because it's that hard for you to keep your greasy nose out of other people's business"

I threw his wand far behind me and walked back to the table.

"What happened?" Remus asked. The other two looked up at me.

"Nothing important" I whispered back.

I don't know why I hadn't thought of this amazing prank before.

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"YOU DID WHAT?"

And then James was gone in a flash.

Come on, as if it mattered what happened to that grease-ball.

**Tami's POV**

The OWLs was probably the scariest thing on the planet. Everything I had already been through – from school situations to real life ones – didn't hold a chance against these tests. After all, I never took school seriously before this. And real life was all about logical reasoning; something very different from what the OWLs required.

So, naturally, I was spending all my time studying.

I tried to study on my own, or with Lily, because studying with Ricky was just too distracting. It was either that, or I was letting myself get distracted.

I was walking through the corridor. I passed the window, and saw the full moon in the sky. It was so beautiful; I had to stop and look.

Even though I had so much on my mind – including the test and Ricky – I couldn't help but wonder why I felt like something else was missing from my life. I had everything I ever needed, but there was one thing disrupting my peace. One –

Was that Snape? Where in the world was he going?

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A few minutes later, I was slipping in and out of the shadows on the grounds. The last thing I needed was to be caught out after dark – and outside the castle walls, none the less.

I saw Snape in the distance and picked up my pace. I had to know where he was going; I don't know why, but I had to know.

The closer I got, the more I wondered if I should surprise attack him. Do something to the Slytherins for anything they had done to us Gryffindors. But before I could take action, Snape disappeared into the dark.

"Lumos" someone whispered behind me. I stepped back into the safety of the shadows.

Light erupted from a single point, showing James carrying a wand. James? _James?_ He followed Snape into the darkness.

Again, I tried to make an attempt at following them, but this time Sirius appeared.

What was going on?

I decided to stay in one spot and watch. I stood in the darkness, silently, waiting for someone to come back out.

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I opened my eyes and saw the moon higher up in the sky. I had fallen asleep! I shot up and looked around. Everything was silent still; no movement anywhere. I sighed, and prepared to go back into the castle.

I turned right into the smelly, snarling face of something...obviously very dangerous. I couldn't see what it was, but I knew for sure that running was not going to save me this time.

**Sirius' POV**

It took a good amount of hours to find Remus, after the incident that happened. James was furious about what I did, and I knew just saying sorry wasn't going to cut it. My only hope was waiting it out; seeing if maybe he'd just let it go.

I smelled Remus before I saw him. Being a dog was very useful sometimes.

When I saw Remus, I went cold all over. Standing in front him, shaking from the cold and what was obviously fear, was Tami.

I howled into the night. It was a matter of seconds before James reached me, in his stag form. Both of us charged to Tami's rescue.

**Tami's POV**

The moon came out from a clump of clouds and I could finally see what was towering over me.

It was a werewolf.

A very hungry, angry werewolf; one that was obviously not in control of himself.

It seemed surprised to see me, but I could understand that; it probably wasn't used to seeing humans. But the shock was slowly disappearing from its eyes.

It growled and took a few steps closer to me. I stepped back into a tree and almost lost my balance.

Suddenly, two more animals came to join him and I think my life began to flash before my eyes. Everything went blacker than the night.

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"Wake up, Tami" the darkness was dissolving. "_Wake up_. You only have an hour until sunrise"

I opened my eyes groggily, and saw the worried face of Sirius. Seeing him made me feel safe and happy inside. Nothing could harm me now, not even a werewolf.

I shot up to a sitting position and looked around. It wasn't nearly as dark as before and there was no werewolf in sight.

"Come on, let's go"

I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. Sirius obviously got the hint. He bent down and picked me up.

At the moment, being carried didn't seem that bad.

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I knew instantly that I wasn't in my dormitory, and I could tell that it was late in the afternoon. I had probably been asleep all day. I opened my eyes to a white ceiling.

"You're awake" Sirius said quietly. A weight came off my bed and suddenly he was right beside my pillow.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm...feeling" I laughed slightly. Even my voice sounded weak.

"Well, as long as you can still feel, right?"

I attempted a smile. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I hope you don't expect me to forget what I saw" I whispered. I would never be able to forget it.

"No, I don't...I talked to Dumbledore. There's a lot you need to know, Tami, if you're going to be part of this secret"

I looked at his face. This was one of the very few times that Sirius was being...well, completely serious.

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**This is to make up for all the time I kept you guys waiting.  
I'll probably post up a chapter every night this week.**

**Just to let you know; fifth year is coming to an end! But sixth year is close behind.**


	24. Marauder Insiders

**Sirius' POV**

"So, let me get this straight. Remus is a werewolf; you can turn into a dog, James into a stag?"

I nodded.

"And Peter into a...mouse?"

"Rat...don't call him a mouse. It's not politically correct"

Tami rolled her eyes. "Wow...so you guys are animagus."

"Yes, ma'am, but don't tell anyone that part! Not even Dumbledore knows. We sort of did it illegally."

"Why are you telling _me_ this?"

"Because...you saw it all, and I haven't mastered the mind-erase spell yet"

"Ha ha"

"Oh, no, I was being completely serious about that"

Tami looked at me, probably expecting me to grin or something. I worked hard to keep my face straight, until her eyes widened and she actually began to look frightened again. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You git" she said, smacking my arm.

"Anyway, that's our tragic story. _Fin_" I bowed. Tami smiled and shook her head. I sort of liked her amused disapproval of my humor.

"Okay, thanks for being honest, I guess"

I stood up to leave. Tami closed her eyes. Good, she deserved some rest after receiving news like this.

"Wait" she said. I was halfway out the door. I turned back to look at her, thinking she might need something.

"What happened to Snape?" She asked.

I sighed. "Nothing, he's with Dumbledore right now. They're discussing...things"

Tami noted my reluctance to talk about it, and didn't press on. I was grateful.

Sometimes, it felt like she was the only one – outside of the Marauders – who really got me.

**Tami's POV**

I only needed to stay in the hospital wing for a few days, and then Madame Pomfrey let me out. Reluctantly, I might add. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had so many visitors all the time, she may have made me stay for longer.

But there was nothing wrong with me. Honestly, I was just a little tired and very confused. Remus being a werewolf was a lot to take in, along with the fact that the other three boys were part animal? I just needed some time to get over it.

Acting normal seemed the best thing to do. Of course, Lily attacked me the second I stepped into the Great Hall.

"What happened to you? One minute you're at the library, and the next morning you're in the hospital wing!"

"Nothing happened, Lily. I guess I've just been studying too hard. You know what they say about the OWLs...just be grateful I didn't have a breakdown"

"Still...you fainted! Are you sure it's just excessive studying?"

"I'm sure. Stop worrying! Even Madame Pomfrey had to admit that keeping me in the hospital wing would be pointless"

"Okay...but things have really been down without you"

I smiled and she smiled back.

"You missed so much!"

"I know" I replied. "But at least there weren't any games. Missing practices is not that big of a deal"

"God, you're just like James. I was talking about classes!"

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"How are you feeling?" Sirius appeared at my side.

"Normal" I shrugged.

We stepped into Transfiguration together. I saw James and Peter there already, but no sign of Remus.

"Where's Remus?"

"Recovering"

"From...that stuff?"

"Yes, what else?"

I shrugged again. When had talking to Sirius become awkward?

"Listen, Remus doesn't know what happened that night. He doesn't remember, but we told him a different story already."

"Okay...?"

"So it's best if you stick with our story. What happened is that you went after Snape, and you were with him when he saw Remus through the doorway, okay?"

"_Snape saw?_" I exclaimed.

"Shush!"

"Sorry...but what happened?"

Sirius looked around to see if anyone was listening, then he replied, "Sit with me during Potions and I'll tell you everything"

I nodded. We both turned and went over to ours seats.

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"So what happened?" I slipped into what was normally James' seat.

I looked around to see where James was sitting today, and found him in my usual seat, next to Ricky...and behind Lily.

He was obviously enjoying this very much.

Ricky, on the other hand, didn't seem too happy. I tried to avoid looking at him.

"Muffliato" Sirius whispered. "So the Marauders were innocently studying in the library -"

I snorted. Sirius glared.

"As I was saying, we were in the library studying...maybe not as innocently as I'd like to think. But we were studying! We were talking too, but studying also. Anyway, we started talking about the full moon, but James realized someone was listening behind the bookshelves..."

By the time Sirius was finished with his story, I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. What Sirius thought was going to be an innocent joke obviously didn't end up being one. I couldn't understand how he could even think that an act that serious could be considered prank worthy.

"Don't look at me like that! Snivellus deserved what he got, and see, he's not even hurt" Sirius indicated in Snape's direction.

He did look pretty normal to me. Maybe a little paler than usual, but too busy with potion-making to think about what he saw.

"So how do we know he's not going to tell?" I asked. It was one thing to trust a Gryffindor, but to trust a Slytherin was almost impossible.

"Like I said before, he discussed some things with Dumbledore. One being how important it is that he keeps his mouth shut. Plus, he knows what'll happen to him if he tells"

"What'll happen to him?" I tried to think of the worst possible thing the four boys could do.

"Bad, bad things" Sirius grinned evilly at me. I couldn't help but laugh.

**Sirius' POV**

The rest of potions was very silent between me and Tami. I wasn't sure what to say to her anymore. And, for a while, I hadn't even remembered that I hated her.

Things seemed different now, though. She didn't really seem to care about Ricky all that much and she paid a lot more attention to me. Which I liked, for some reason. I couldn't be sure what the reason was; maybe because it finally felt like the world was right again.

"Remember the last time we were potion partners?" I asked.

"How can I forget?" she glared at me.

"I'm sorry" I laughed. "I just felt so _insecure_ after you got me"

"I bet I could still catch you off guard" she muttered.

"Excuse me? You must be out of your mind! You were lucky that time, but trust me; it's never going to happen again"

"We'll see"

"Is that a challenge I hear?"

"Oh god, Tami, you have to save me! James is driving me up the wall" Lily whispered as she passed by.

"Why don't you just agree to go out with him? Then he might stop acting like a lovesick puppy" I said.

"Never" Lily hissed. Then she walked back to her table.

"Do you think Lily and James are ever going to happen?" Tami asked me.

I looked over at them. James was trying desperately to get Lily's attention, and Lily was doing a fairly good job at ignoring him. I turned back to Tami, smirking.

"No, it's practically impossible"

We both laughed.

**Tami's POV**

I was walking down to the Great Hall for dinner when Ricky caught up with me.

"Hi" I smiled at him. He didn't seem to upset about switching seats in Potions.

"Hi, I wanted to ask you something"

I looked at him, "yes?"

"There's a Hogsmede trip this weekend"

I nodded.

"Are you going? Or are you going to stay back and study, because I heard a lot of people are going to do that"

"I think I might go. I've been studying too much"

"Enough to faint?"

"Does _everyone_ know about that?" I exclaimed.

"Not really...okay, yes, everyone does. Except the people who don't care" Ricky indicated towards some Slytherins walking ahead of us.

"Makes sense" I agreed.

"So...if you're going to go...do you think...I mean, would you like to go with me?" he asked.

"Sure, we can all go as a group; you, me, Lily, James -"

"No, I mean, as a date"

A date?

I stopped walking and looked up at him. He was watching me, waiting for my response.

I wasn't sure what to say.

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**I was thinking of doing this 'season finale' kind of thing. Not really season finale, but think of the first 30 or so chapters as Part One of my story.  
I'll probably start posting up chapters 31+ after that last week of school/regents.**

**Hope you guys enjoy :]**


	25. OWLs

**'OWLs'**

**Tami's POV**

Suddenly, my dinner didn't seem so appetizing anymore. I put my fork down and sighed.

"What's wrong with you?" Lily asked from across the table.

"Nothing" I said quickly.

I didn't want to tell anyone what had just happened with Ricky. The look on his face was haunting me still.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what, guess -"

"Marlene! Just spit it out" Lily snapped.

"Ricky just asked me to go with him to Hogsmede" she squealed. "God, I'm starving"

I stared at Marlene. That was absurd; he had just asked me. And when I declined the offer, he seemed genuinely angry; at me, at Sirius.

I couldn't quite understand why he had to bring Sirius into this too.

Lily was watching me intently. I turned to look back at her, and she raised her eyebrow at me.

"What?" I whispered.

She shook her head no, and mouthed "later"

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"Why were you looking at me like that?" I asked when we were in the dormitory alone.

"You seemed sort of upset that Marlene was going with Ricky" Lily said nonchalantly. It was obvious she wanted to know what was really going on.

"Lily, I don't care who he goes with...it's just that he asked me right before I came into the Great Hall."

"Oh my god," Lily turned to look at me. "Are you serious?"

I nodded.

"Then he doesn't really _want_ to go with Marlene, does he?"

"No" I said. "At least I don't think he does"

"Poor Marlene"

"Or poor Ricky?" I offered. Lily laughed.

**Sirius' POV**

I walked over to where Tami was studying and pulled her away from her books.

"Sirius, what are you doing? I need to -"

"No, you need to take a break. Come sit with us"

Tami sat down in one of the armchairs near the fire, and I sat in the one next to her. Peter was missing, but that hardly mattered. He was probably upstairs sleeping or something.

Remus was reading, as usual. James was playing with a stolen snitch.

As usual.

"So why am I here?" Tami asked.

"No particular reason" Remus looked up and smiled. "I can help you finish studying if you want"

"Thanks" Tami said.

"God, you guys are boring"

"You two should be studying also. The OWLs are close" Remus commented.

"I'll do it later. You can't spend all your time studying, you know" I replied.

"Want to play wizards chess?" James asked.

The common room door opened, and in stepped Ricky. With Marlene?

I looked over at the guys, who were all watching too. They looked back, confused.

"When did they become an item?" James muttered.

"Not sure"

"He's taking her to Hogsmede" Tami said.

"Really?" I looked over at her, and noticed a strange look on her face. "Are you jealous?"

"What? No, of course not" she snapped.

"Then why are you making that face?"

"Because I'm not sure if them being together is such a good idea."

"So basically, you're jealous"

"Sirius!"

"What? You're certainly making it sound that way"

"He already asked me, for your information. I said no, and then half an hour later, Marlene came over to me and Lily and said they were going together. Do you get it now?" she glared at me.

"He's trying to make you jealous?" James scoffed.

I couldn't help but smile too. But part of me was confused, "so is his plan working?" I watched Tami's face very carefully.

She made no indication that she was upset. "No, I'm just worried for both of them. Or one of them...I'm just not sure which to be more worried for"

"Well, Marlene can be intense when she wants to be"

"You should know" James said.

I smirked, until I saw Tami glaring at me again. Then my smirk disappeared.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going back now"

Tami got up and went back to her books.

"Wonder what that was about"

"Yes, it's very complicated to understand" Remus said, not looking up from his book. James grinned.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, mate. You're just really clueless sometimes. Come to think of it, so is she"

**Tami's POV**

I wasn't sure what happened to me when I heard James comment about Sirius and Marlene. I knew that Marlene was interested in him once, but it never occurred to me that they may have had a thing.

It never occurred to me how much of a ladies' man Sirius was.

Every Hogsmede trip, he had a date. He was always talking to some girl or the other, but not in the same way he talked to me. He talked to me like he was talking to James or Remus. I was just one of the guys, I suppose.

And that bothered me?

I shrugged it off. I didn't have time to think about these things. Remus was right; the OWLs were coming up too fast, and I really needed to study. There was way too much to do.

I couldn't waste my time thinking about Sirius.

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Everyone looked haggard to me. It may have been funny, if I had been on the outside. I was just as tired as everyone else.

But at least the OWL's were finally over. We had just finished our last subject. All of the tests seemed pretty easy, and I think I did fairly well.

Everyone was up in the dormitories now, sleeping. Or in the Great Hall, also sleeping.

I sat down next to Lily and saw that she still seemed upset.

"He only said it because of James" I said. "There's no point in being upset"

"I'm not upset, I just don't feel like talking about it" Lily stood up and walked out.

I sighed, thinking back to what happened after our Defense Against the Dark Arts exam.

Lily had reason to be upset; Snape was supposed to - at least -be her friend. The fact that they used to be so close made everything all the worse.

And James just didn't know when to stop. He attacked Snape for no reason, humiliated him, and laughed at him. When Lily came to his rescue, James listened to her. But Snape made it seem like he didn't care at all about her. He called her a _mud-blood_.

If I had been able to, I would've cursed him myself. But I was too far away, and I didn't want to get involved.

"Why do _you_ look upset?" Sirius asked, taking Lily's place.

"Just wondering when Lily's going to feel better" I replied.

"I don't know why she's got her pants all tied in a knot. It was just some innocent fun. Did you see the cut Snivellus gave James? Now that's serious. He deserves everything he gets."

"I think you guys went too far this time"

"Come on, Tami! You can't be defending that piece of filth"

"I'm not, but you should tell James he's never going to get anywhere with Lily if he keeps acting like that"

"Are you as upset with me as she's upset with James?" Sirius asked, watching me intently. Too intently.

I looked at Sirius and my heart started hammering. "No, how can I ever be upset with you?" I tried to joke.

Sirius moved closer to me. "Good" he whispered, and smiled. I tried to smiel back, but my heart was pounding so loud in my rib cage, it was amazing that Sirius couldn't hear it.

Suddenly, he got up. "Well, got to go!"

I shook myself mentally then nodded.

"James and I are sneaking out to Hogsmede" he whispered, and then he was gone.

**Sirius' POV**

James and I were sitting in the abandoned house. The streets were dark outside, and the only sounds were our bottles clinking as we put them down on the floor.

"Do you think she's ever going to forgive me?" James asked.

I lay down on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. "If you ask me, mate, I think it's Snivellus she should never forgive. You didn't even do anything wrong"

"Maybe I am a little too conceited sometimes"

"_Sometimes?_" I sat up again, and looked at him.

"Shut up...I'm trying to be serious right now"

"Well, _that's_ different"

"No, it would be different if _you_ were the one trying to be serious"

"But I _am_ Sirius"

"That was corny"

"Sorry"

I lay back down and watched the light from our wands dancing up on the ceiling.

"Do you have feelings for Tami?" James asked out of nowhere.

Instead of getting annoyed at him - as I usually did - I really thought about what he was asking.

"I do care about her"

"I do too, but that's different from what I'm asking"

"She's important to me, you know? She's like a really good friend"

"Who's a girl?"

"I know, it's not what you usually expect from me"

"That's for sure. You don't have girlfriends, let alone _girl friends_"

"But I do consider her my friend"

"Can you consider her anything more than that?"

"I don't think so"

"I think she likes you, Sirius. As in, more than a friend"

I took a second to think it through.

"I believed that idea once, but I'm not going to fall for it again. She doesn't think of me that way"

"You know that day we saw Marlene and Ricky?"

"I remember"

"When Tami left, she was jealous. Couldn't you tell?"

Jealous? I thought about the possibilities of that. She _did_ act strangely after hearing I had been with Marlene once.

"I still don't believe it. It's absurd"

"Whatever you say, Sirius; just don't mess up our team"

"Is that _all_ you boys think about?" I said, imitating Lily's voice.

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**I think sixth year will start in exactly the 31st chapter. But the last few chapters will also include... more than just fifth year. :]  
Thanks to all my fans ! & to all the people out there who aren't yet, it would be very much appreciated if you became fans. Lol**


	26. A Big Decision

**'A Big Decision'**

**Tami's POV**

_I didn't want to leave._

_It was that simple. I just didn't want to go back to some orphanage. Not after living in Hogwarts, and feeling like I belonged for once. I couldn't go back to the place that reminded me I had no family._

_It reminded me of that night. And I always tried my hardest not to remember._

A second or third year came into our transfiguration room. "Professor?"

McGonagall turned and looked at him. Her scrutinizing eyes obviously made him nervous.

"Hey" Sirius whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. The kid turned to look at him. "It's okay, mate, she doesn't bite. She might scratch, though - being a cat and all"

"Mr. Black, please" McGonagall said, as everyone else laughed.

It seemed like Sirius really was getting his old confidence back.

"What is it?" she asked the boy.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see Tami Valentine" he squeaked.

Everyone began looking at me and whispering to one another. I rolled my eyes.

"Very well" McGonagall looked at me and nodded. I stood up, leaving my stuff at my desk.

Then I ran up the steps after the young boy.

**xxx**

"Did he say what he wanted?" I asked the kid.

After getting out of McGonagall's presence, he seemed a lot less timid.

"No, he didn't say. He just wants to see you"

"All right, then" I shrugged. It was probably about Remus or something, I thought.

We walked up to a stone gargoyle. The boy said the password (_toffee éclairs?_) and then turned to me as the gargoyle began to move.

"Just go up the steps" he pointed to the steps now appearing from the ground.

"Oh, and you're an amazing Quiditch player, by the way. My name's Ivan" he shouted, as I slowly disappeared into the tunnel.

"Thanks, Ivan!" I shouted back. It looked like I had a fan.

**xxx**

"Come in"

I opened the door and stepped inside Dumbledore's office. It was honestly the strangest room I had ever seen.

"Like my office?" Dumbledore asked from behind a large, wooden desk.

I nodded. "It's very...different" I commented.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Come sit, Tami. There's something we need to discuss"

"Is this about the whole werewolf thing, sir?"

"No, actually it is not. I doubt very much I have to explain the importance of keeping a secret like that to you. Especially since Remus is a fellow classmate, and friend, I assume?"

I nodded again. It was hard to get over how interesting his office was. Everything was either pulsing or moving or doing _something_.

"You never met your father, did you, Tami?"

My attention snapped back to Dumbledore. "No, I never met him"

Where was this going?

"I believe you only ever met your aunt, on your mother's side, but after she died, you went to many different orphanages. Is that correct?"

"Yes"

"And you went to many schools. I see Durmstrang is on the list"

"I hated that school, but I learned a lot of, er, _spells_ there"

"I would think so"

Dumbledore put the papers that he was looking at down, and turned his full attention to me.

"I have been corresponding with your father recently. I thought it was best he finally knew that you exist"

I froze. He didn't know I existed?

"Yes, Tami, he never knew. Your mother never told him. A selfish act, I would presume. She didn't want to be separated from you, so she never mentioned that she was pregnant. She took the risk of taking care of you herself, rather than sending you to a place that would keep you safe for all of your childhood"

I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't. I thought back to the letter she had written me and realized something.

"But in the letter she said she gave birth to me two months after she sent him away. How could he have not known?"

"I don't want to ruin the image you have of your mother; no matter how little the damage would be. But she could never admit to herself that keeping you was not the right choice; how would she be able to admit it to someone else?"

"Did you know my mother?" I whispered.

"I know - and knew - everyone in the resistance. Your mother was very brave and strong. I see a lot of that in you, in fact"

Dumbledore pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and handed it to me. It was then that I realized I was crying.

"As I said before, I've been corresponding with your father. I know you must have thought he didn't want anything to do with you, but he does care. He requested to be your rightful guardian, Tami. That would mean you'd live with him; with his family, and you wouldn't have to go back to an orphanage anymore. He lives in London, so you have easy access to the Hogwarts Express. It's a very good offer, if you ask me. But it's your choice in the end, Tami. Do you want this?"

I stared at the ground. This was too hard of a decision to make.

"If you would like some time to think..."

I cleared my throat and wiped my face dry. "Yes, sir, that would be nice"

"Very well, Tami. Just don't forget. The year is almost over"

"I understand" I stood up and made my way back to the door.

"One other thing, about your mother." Dumbledore said. "Don't be mad about what she did; anyone would've done the same thing in her position. It is human nature to be selfish, and she loved you very much"

"I know, sir" I said numbly.

I walked back to the Gryffindor common room, thankfully seeing no one I knew. When I reached my dormitory, it was empty. I slipped into my bed and pulled the covers all the way up.

I didn't want to deal with this.

**Sirius' POV**

"I don't know; she hasn't left her room for a few days now" Lily said.

"She won't talk to you?" James asked. Was he actually being serious?

Lily obviously noticed it too. She gave him an appraising look. After this conflict was solved, I _had_ to tell him about Lily.

"No, she won't talk to me at all. She doesn't really notice when I talk to her either. She does come down to the Great Hall, though. But it's after everyone else is gone"

"So she's eating" I noted.

"I hope so. I only saw her once, and she didn't seem all that hungry"

"Well, I know what I have to do"

Both of them looked at me.

"You know...get into the girls' dormitories! And don't give me those looks; you both know I've done it before, and James! You were with me last time!"

James' face grew red, as Lily turned to glare at him. "I was just helping Sirius out" he tried to explain.

Lily rolled her eyes and left the table.

I laughed as James turned to glare at me. "Thanks a lot! I'm going to get you for that"

"Sure, sure, I'll see you later, okay?"

"All right, mate. I'll be outside, practicing"

I nodded and walked upstairs to get my broom.

**xxx**

I flew up to the windows of the north tower. Thankfully, the window for Tami's room was wide open. It was easy to fly straight through.

I touched down on the ground and saw that no one was in the room. There was just one lump under the sheets. Hoping it was Tami, I jumped on top of the lump.

"Time to wake-y" I said in a sing-song voice.

"What the -"

I smiled into Tami's confused face.

"Sirius?"

"That's my name"

Tami's hair was wild. It was all over the place, but still straight, which I found amazing. I pushed her hair back.

"Oh, there's your face"

"Get _off_ me!" she pushed me off suddenly, and I fell on the ground next to her bed.

"What's wrong with you?" I exclaimed. I stood up and sat on the edge of her bed.

"What's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with you! What are you doing in the _girls'_ dormitory, Sirius? Last time I checked, you were _not_ a girl"

"What's with the attitude? I just wanted to see you"

"I _don't_ want to see you"

She went back under the covers.

"Come on, Tami" I pulled at the covers gently, then harder, until she sat up and glared at me. It was only then that I realized her face was tear-streaked.

I let go of the sheets. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" her eyes lost their menace, and she looked away.

I stood up again. "Move over"

"What? Wait, are you asking me to let you into my bed?" she looked at me strangely.

"I'm not going to do anything" I said, pushing her over to the side. "Unless you want me too"

She hit me.

"Ah, there's the old Tami I know"

She kept on glaring at me.

"Well, sort of" I added.

Once we were under the covers together, I turned and looked at her. "Tell me"

"There's nothing to tell"

"_Tami_"

"It's private!" tears started leaking from her eyes again.

"You can't keep going on like this. You have to talk to someone, and seeing as you don't want to talk to Lily, I think I should be the one"

"Why should I talk to you?"

"Because we're friends...and you're second closest to me"

"That's not true...I'm pretty damn close to James"

I poked her in the arm. "Yeah, right"

She smiled.

"Just tell me"

"My father wants me to live with him"

I gave her a look, and she smiled grimly.

"I wasn't even aware you had a father"

"Neither was he"

"Wow...Tami...we're all leaving in a few days. You have to go to Dumbledore and tell him your answer"

"I don't know what my answer _should_ be"

"It should be whatever you think is right. It's really your choice"

"I know...what would you do, Sirius?"

"It's a second chance to get to know a part of your family that might actually care about you. I would take it"

Tami started crying again. "I just don't know...I never even thought he..."

"Cared?"

Tami nodded.

I pulled her into my arms. It was probably the one and only time she would ever let me.


	27. Family Ties

**'Family Ties'**

**Tami's POV**

I stepped off the train. Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were behind me. I knew they were staying with me because they thought I needed the support, but I was okay now.

I knew the decision I made had been a big one, but it was something I had to do.

I looked down at the picture in my hand. Everyone had said that we looked very much alike, but they had never seen my mother. People used to say that I was a spitting image of her.

"I'm sorry, Tami, but my parents are here" Lily said.

"It's okay. You should go. You should all go, in fact"

They all nodded and walked towards their families. Sirius stayed though.

"By all I meant you too"

"Trust me; you're doing me a favor by letting me stay with you. I really don't want to see that woman. Not after having such a good time this year"

I laughed. "Your mother can't be that bad"

"You haven't met her, and I think you should hope you never do"

"Well, I don't see him. Maybe he decided to not show up"

"He's right there" Sirius pointed a little way ahead.

I looked and saw the same man in the picture standing right before me. He had his wife (second wife, I guess) and the rest of his family standing wit him. When I saw him, he saw me. A smile broke over his face, and he seemed genuinely happy to see me.

This was the scariest thing I ever had to do. And I had been worrying about the OWLs?

"Easy there, Tami. You can do this. I'm right here with you" Sirius said into my ear.

"That's supposed to be a _good thing?_"

"See, you still have enough strength in you to insult me. It's obvious you're going to be fine. I, on the other hand, have to go"

"Bye" I turned around and quickly hugged him. Then he left and I walked over to where my father was waiting.

"Hello Tami"

"Hey"

He awkwardly hugged me and then introduced me to the rest of them.

I smiled, nodded, hugged...

It all felt so unreal.

**xxx**

His house was big.

That was the first - and only - thing I noticed. I couldn't get over how big it was. It was huge! And I wasn't used to living in a house like this.

It was a very typical muggle house. And I found out, during supper, that they were a very typical muggle family.

Cleanliness and perfection seemed to be their goal, except for the kids. They were two daughters, one year apart, and both very big mess-makers.

I watched as they fought, just like sisters should. It made me wonder if this would've been my life, if my mom hadn't done what she did; if we could have lived a normal life. Would I have had brothers or sisters to fight with too?

"You'll be sleeping in the guest bedroom" my father said, when he came downstairs with Rebecca.

"I hope you like the room. We didn't get that much time to re-decorate it, like the rest of the house" Rebecca added.

"It's all right, as long as it has a bed, right?"

Rebecca smiled. Was the awkwardness never going to end?

**Some weeks later...**

I was going completely and utterly out of my mind.

I couldn't do magic, I couldn't practice Quiditch, I couldn't do anything! All I could do was pretend to be a muggle. Which wasn't fun at all!

How did these people survive?

Then again, they didn't know how the other half lived. They didn't know how necessary magic was because they had never tasted it. I could understand that much, but I couldn't understand at all how I was expected to survive.

"Why don't you get a job? Lots of kids your age get summer jobs"

That was my dad's suggestion when I voiced my concerns. I guess I was happy that he cared, even if it was only a little. But getting a job? That wasn't what Tami Valentine did. She played pranks. She flew on a broomstick!

She did not slave over a hot counter for hours at a time.

**xxx**

I was walking past my room when I heard a strange tapping coming from inside. I stopped, pulled my wand out, and quickly opened the door, expecting to see someone waiting to attack me.

Instead, I saw two owls, taking turns at tapping the window. I rolled my eyes at myself and proceeded in letting them in.

After I sent them off, I turned to the two letters lying on my bed. One was from Lily. I opened that one first.

_Dear Tami,_

_How are you? I haven't heard from you so far, but I guess that would make sense, since you live with muggles. I guess they don't understand our methods of communication. My parents got me an owl last year, though, so maybe your father will come to understand?_

_I'm not sure how long my owl will last though. Sometimes I find my sister, Petunia, in my room, trying to kill him off. She resents me for what I am, I guess. There was a time when she wanted to study magic, too. But Dumbledore wouldn't let her._

_Anyway, I just wanted to see how you're doing. I miss you so much! I may even miss Sirius and the others. Except James, because he keeps sending me letters. I'm not sure if I should respond or not. I don't want to bring his hopes up or anything._

_I guess I'll see you in Diagon Alley soon. Try to be there on August 29__th__ or 30__th__, at the latest. I'll probably be there all week. My parents like to see what the magical world is like._

_Lots of love and good wishes,_

_Lily Potter_

_P.S: We're close to getting our OWL results! I'm so nervous. And don't you dare think that I have no reason to be._

After reading her letter, I wished so badly that I could respond. It didn't occur to me to keep one of the owls and send a response back to her right now. It was too late, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I picked up the next letter, which didn't have any indication to who it was from. I ripped it open and pulled out another letter.

It read;

_Tami,_

_I can't believe this, but I think I'm missing you. I'm staying with James now. It's a long story, but his parents were always nice to me. I figured why not trespass on their hospitality for the summer? Or maybe every summer? After living here with James and his parents, I don't think I'll ever want to go back to that damned house._

_How are you, though? How's living with your father? Not as bad as you thought it would be, I hope. You should've seen your face when we got off the train. I swear, I thought you were going to faint again or something._

_I bet you're bored out of your mind. Living with muggles must be aggravating. Not that I would know, since I'm living with wizards. Ha!_

_But seriously, the summer's almost over. Just a few more weeks of torture, and you can return to your normal life._

_Sincerely hoping you're not losing your mind,_

_Sirius_

_P.S: James says hi._

I smiled. Even though the letter made me want to punch him, I was glad to hear from him.

**xxx**

I was walking past my dad's bedroom, thinking about what exactly I was supposed to do with myself for the rest of the summer. I still couldn't think of anything, and summer was nearly over. Maybe it was just time for me to give up. And next summer, I was definitely going to find something to do before I came back here.

"...we can't have her doing this"

"It's not a problem, Becky. Everything's going to be fine"

"Stop trying to placate me, as if I need to be reassured. Our children are in danger as long as she's here, or are they no longer your children?"

I stopped and stood next to the crack in the door to listen.

"Of course they're my children, but so is she. I can't just abandon her"

"You did it once before. Why was it easier then?"

"I didn't know about her then. This is completely different"

"I understand that you want to get to know her, and I've been lenient about her staying here this summer, but she can't come back here. I won't allow it"

"What's the danger? I still don't understand that"

"Everything about her is dangerous. Her kind is dangerous. We have no idea what they can or can't do"

"She can't do anything; she's prohibited outside of school. You know that!"

"What about the rest of them, hm? Remember that guy you saw her with, that _boy_, if you can call him that. He certainly looked dangerous. Even if he wasn't a wizard, I would be threatened by him"

"He's a boy, Rebecca. A sixteen year old _boy_ and he's not even here right now. Why are you bringing him up?"

"You seemed pretty upset when you saw him, too. Didn't you call him a motorcycle-riding troublemaker?"

"It doesn't matter what I think of him. He's Tami's friend and I have to accept that. I'm not going to try and change that. I have no right to"

Thank you, dad.

"Well, whoever she's friends with, whatever she is - I don't care. I won't have her messing with my children's minds. Soon they'll want to be like her and I just can't have that. They're only little kids...they deserve to grow up in a safe and friendly environment"

"What else has Tami been but friendly? They love her!"

"No, they love what she can do. They know nothing about her"

"Well, neither do you"

"It doesn't seem like you know her all that well either. How much do you know about her? Tell me that. Or are you just housing her because she reminds you of your ex-wife?"

I gasped a little too loudly. How much did Rebecca know about my mother? I didn't have a chance to find out, though. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer to the door. I ran down the hall and into the first room I found, which was the bathroom. I eased the door closed quietly, and locked it.

Two seconds later I heard a knock. I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Yes?"

"Dinner's almost ready" I heard my dad say.

"All right"

I didn't make a single movement until I knew he was gone. Eventually, I sat down on the toilet and put my face in my hands. I wasn't going to cry. I just wasn't.

These people mattered almost as much as the dirt on the bottom of my shoe. I shouldn't - and didn't - care what they thought. I would never care.

Now I had more pressing problems than finding what to do over the summer; such as finding a place to stay the next time I had to leave Hogwarts.

I should have expected that this wouldn't last forever.


	28. Runaway

**'Runaway'**

**Tami's POV**

I couldn't sleep that night.

I looked at the clock next to my bed for the 50th time that night. It was 3:00 am and I still couldn't fall asleep. I let out a big sigh and got out of bed. Maybe it was time for a 3 o'clock-in-the-morning snack.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I saw it already inhabited by my father. He saw me before I could run and hide.

"Come and sit with me" he said, and smiled.

I didn't have the guts to tell him what I had over-heard.

"What are you doing up?" he asked me after I sat down. He was drinking a cup of coffee.

"I could ask you the same thing"

He laughed quietly and then looked at me. He seemed sad, and I probably knew why. He wasn't going to fight for me to stay. He was going to give in to Rebecca, and next summer, I was going back to an orphanage.

"You're just like your mother. She would've said the same thing"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that so I just didn't respond at all. We sat there for a few moments, in total silence.

"I heard what Rebecca said" I finally managed.

He looked at me with concern. "What did you hear?"

"That she thinks I'm some kind of demon-witch who's going to turn her children into inanimate objects"

"She doesn't think -"

"Maybe she doesn't think _exactly_ that, but she thinks I'm going to do something to them"

"She's not used to having a... she's not used to having you in the house"

"God, dad, can't you even say it? You were married to one once! Or have you forgotten that?"

"Tami, watch your volume. There are people sleeping in this house"

"The people you really care about" I snapped.

I stood up and ran up the stairs.

My father called my name but I was done listening to him. I was done with everything in this house.

After packing up my stuff, I hauled my trunk down the stairs and to the front door. I was accustomed to being a runaway, so I knew how to get where I wanted.

"Tami, where are you going?" my dad appeared at the top of the stairs.

"None of your business"

"You're not allowed to leave"

"You're not allowed to tell me what to do"

"Of course I am; I'm your guardian!"

"It's not official yet, and once I'm gone, there's no way they'll believe you're responsible enough. You say you can take care of me, but how could you have let me escape?"

"You're not leaving and that's final"

"If I don't leave, how are you ever going to please Rebecca?"

"This is not about her! I'm sure once she gets to know you better -"

I laughed bitterly. "You and I both know she doesn't care enough to want to get to know me better. She'd be happier if I just left; you all will. And I have a place to stay, all right? I'm not just hitch-hiking away or something. I'm going to stay with my friend, Lily, for the rest of the summer"

That was a lie.

"Fine, I'll let you go to your friend's place, -"

Because you can't stop me anyway.

"But at least wait until morning?"

"Fine" I snapped. My dad came down a few steps, probably to pick up my trunk and take it back upstairs.

"The trunk stays here" I growled.

He stopped descending the stairs. Instead, he turned around and walked back up. I sat down on the trunk and tried to cool down.

Of course, I had lied again. I wasn't going to wait around until tomorrow morning, so he could convince Rebecca to let me stay the rest of the summer. He was going to try his absolute hardest to make me stay here, even though there really was no point to it. I was never coming back.

I waited another ten minutes, until I was sure my father was asleep again. Then I left the house as silently as I could.

**xxx**

The bus stopped in the not-so-busy street where the Leaky Cauldron was situated. I got off and walked over to the bar. The Leaky Cauldron was pretty empty too, but something didn't seem right about it.

I stepped in and saw destruction everywhere. Glasses, tables, chairs, picture frames; everything was in pieces. I left my trunk near the door and tried to walk as silently as possible, with all the debris crunching under my feet. I had my wand out, ready to attack, but everything in my body told me to run. Run as fast as I could and as far as I could from the Leaky Cauldron.

I looked around for people. Anyone who could tell me what happened, or who could show me what happened by attacking, but nobody was here. I stepped behind the counter and looked around. There were only two or three gin bottles intact.

Suddenly a hand enclosed around my ankle and I screamed.

"Shh! You stupid girl! Thank god they left already, or you'd be just as dead as everyone else who was in here"

I watched as Tom, the bartender, slipped out from underneath the counter and stood up. He walked around me and headed for the door. While he was looking outside, I looked underneath the counter.

"So you were hiding underneath this counter the whole time, and they didn't see you?"

"Don't be ignorant. They would've seen me if I had just slipped underneath the counter. There's a trapdoor down below. Every shop that isn't dark has some sort of escape route"

"For what?"

"_For what?_ Do you not realize that He-who-must-not-be-named is at large and killing everyone in sight. Is this not proof enough for you?" he gestured to the desolate bar.

"I know what's going on" I snapped, defensively. I didn't like this little old man.

"What happened here Tom?"

I looked up and saw wizard officials standing outside the door. Standing in the front of the group was the minister.

"Been attacked, minister. Everyone's gone; either dead or run away. I was the only survivor and this here girl came in just a few minutes ago"

The minister stepped into the bar to get a closer look at me. I stood still, not sure what I was expected to do with myself.

"Who are you?" the minister finally asked.

"Tami Valentine. I'm a student at Hogwarts and I came here thinking I could stay in a room, but I suppose…"

I looked around at the destruction. There was no way they were going to be housing anyone tonight.

"If you're a student, where is your family?"

"I'm an orphan, sir." I thought back to the day before, and tonight. My father had proved to me that he wasn't worth counting on. Whether he had known I existed or not, he didn't really want me. "I don't have a family"

"All right, you guys go look upstairs for any survivors"

Most of the officials ran up the stairs, but some of them stayed behind to guard the minister. I stood there awkwardly.

"I need to get a message out about this girl" the minister said to himself, absentmindedly.

It suddenly occurred to me that I could end up being sent to the orphanage, or back to my dad's house. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out "who are you going to call?"

The minister gave me a piercing look. He didn't seem too happy about answering this question. "The headmaster of Hogwarts; you are a student there, aren't you, Ms. Valentine?"

Relief rushed into my heart. "Yes, of course"

"Sit down; I'll get you a drink and some food…if there is any" Tom left the room in search of food.

I sat down in one of the few chairs that was still intact. The Leaky Cauldron had been attacked tonight, and that meant that You-Know-Who had walked through these rooms - possibly. Or maybe his followers; the very ones who had killed my mother.

I stared at the floor. Being so close to yet another site of their destruction left me scared and angry.

**xxx**

It was settled that I'd stay with Lily and her parents, rather than at an inn. Dumbledore was very kind about it:

"If you really feel you can't spend the rest of your summer there"

"I would have liked to, but no one wants me there. And I'm not going to stay in a place where I'm not wanted"

Lily's parents were very nice about it, too. The only one who wasn't nice was Lily's sister, Petunia…but I wasn't worried about that too much.


	29. Revenge

**'Revenge'**

**Sirius' POV**

I don't know why I hadn't come to live with the Potters earlier. This life was better than anything I could've asked for. I didn't have to deal with my horrible mother, or my stupid brother. I was away from my father, whom I couldn't even begin to explain.

And I was with James, my best mate. His parents were hospitable, and I loved helping them around the house. There was so much life in here, compared to where I usually lived. Plus they thought I was a 'nice boy', which made me want to laugh.

Remus came over for the last month of school. We went around the neighborhood, not really getting into much trouble, considering the fact that we couldn't do magic.

I was sixteen now. I felt like I ruled the universe.

I barely thought about my family anymore. But the few times I did, left me upset and - well - cranky.

_"Hey, mum, did you hear about Sirius' girlfriend?"_

_I jumped up and tackled my brother to keep him from saying anything more. I was in the process of squishing his face into the carpet, when my mother walked in._

_"Get off your brother, boy!" She pulled me off and threw me to the side. Then she helped up Regulus._

_"What's this I hear about a girlfriend?"_

_"She's a half-blood, mum" Regulus mumbled as blood leaked from his mouth. Good, at least I caused some damage._

_"A half-blood!" my mother roared. "What do you think you're doing, Sirius? It's one thing to be friends with that Potter boy! Now you're getting involved with the filthiest of the filth?"_

_"Well, at least she's not a mud-blood, like that Lily -"_

_I tackled Regulus again, and - I hope to god - broke a tooth._

_My mother had to pull me off him again. I ended up crashing into a cabinet full of glass jars. Luckily, the ones that came tumbling down missed my head, but I did get some cuts on my arms and hands. I glared at both of them. They were both sickening to look at._

_I lurched up and went upstairs to my room._

_I disregarded my father, who saw the blood all over me. He disregarded me, too, as he usually did._

_When I got to my room, I wrote a quick note to James. Then I began packing my stuff._

_I knew James wouldn't say no._

"Hey, Sirius, you alive?"

"What?" I snapped, coming out of the past.

"Oh, you're in one of your moods" James said. "I just wanted to know if you'd like to play Quiditch with us"

**xxx**

We were all sitting in the grass, after playing a very intense game of Quiditch. Some kids from another area of the neighborhood came to play with us, but they were no match for me and James. Remus tried to keep up, but he just wasn't a flier. That much was obvious.

It was just me, James and Remus now. I pulled a strand of grass from the ground and tore it into pieces.

"I wonder what Evans is doing right now"

"Not thinking about you"

"Shut up, mate. I'm pretty sure Tami isn't thinking about you either. Even though you wrote to her"

"I don't care if she's thinking about me. And it was _one_ letter. You send Lily like twenty letters a week"

James pushed me so I fell. I tried to push him back, but he got away.

"You guys are both idiots; I bet both the girls aren't thinking about you, no matter how many letters you've written"

Both me and James attacked Remus.

**Tami's POV**

Lily and I, along with Lily's parents, stepped from the back-alley of the Leaky Cauldron into the bustling streets of Diagon Alley.

I looked around. It was the first time I had ever been here.

"So you've never been here before?" Lily asked, shocked.

"It's not like I grew up in London, like you guys. This is all new to me. Of course, I've been to places like this, but not in England"

"That's amazing! There are so many things you need to see"

"We'll see you two later" Lily's parents waved and stepped out of Diagon Alley.

"All right, I guess we should get our shopping done first"

"Just show me where the books are" I said, sarcastically.

Lily pulled me along.

**xxx**

We were standing outside the Owl Emporium (Lily convinced me to buy myself an owl), when someone came up from behind me, picked me up and spun me around.

I saw James appear next to Lily, and I realized who it was.

"Sirius, put me down!"

He did, I turned and punched him in the arm.

"What was that for?"

"For being so annoying" I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I've missed your punches"

"I'm sure you have"

"How long are you guys staying?" James asked, obviously directing the question to Lily.

"Actually, we were just about to leave" Lily replied quickly, looking me in the eye, begging for me to agree.

"Yes, we were just about to leave"

"Let us help you carry your stuff back" James said.

"That's not necessary" Lily tried to get her packages out of James' way, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Are you kidding me? You two can't carry all of this, and a cage. Nice owl, by the way"

"Thanks, James" I had to work hard to keep my laughter in.

Sirius picked up some of my packages, and the four of us made our way out of Diagon Alley.

**xxx**

"When am I going to get James off my back?" Lily exclaimed after we entered Lily's room.

"Oh come on, he obviously likes you a lot. Why not just give him a chance?"

"Because he's a horrible person! You see what he does to Snape"

"Yes, and we all see what Snape does to _you_"

"It doesn't matter what Snape does anymore. We're no longer friends. We're no longer anything"

"So why get annoyed about what James does to Snape?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. All I can say is that James needs to wake up! He's worse than Sirius sometimes. At least Sirius has a reason to be cocky"

"As if James doesn't"

"He doesn't!"

"He may not be like Sirius, but he does have some very good redeeming qualities"

"Like what? _His hair?_"

I laughed. "No, but you have to admit, he is quite good looking"

Lily threw a pillow at me, but didn't make any attempt to disagree.

**xxx**

We were aboard the train, headed back towards Hogwarts, and everything that I knew and loved. I watched green hills and sparkling waters flash by as the train made its way through empty fields.

The compartment door opened and Lily stepped in, looking annoyed. It was an expression I had learned to recognize. And I was so happy that I could see it again.

"James?" I asked.

"Who else?" she snapped. "Being prefect would be so much easier if I didn't have to deal wit him"

"Why? What's he doing?"

"Nothing particular; he just won't get off my back"

"Because he fancies you"

"So? Why does that matter?"

I sighed and gave her a shrug. Poor James, I thought.

"Have you seen Sirius?"

"No, and I'm telling you Tami, Sirius doesn't have friends that are girls. He doesn't even have girlfriends"

"You don't have to worry about me" I replied.

Lily looked at me and raised her eyebrow. "Half an hour into the ride and you're already asking me where he is. Does that sound like something I shouldn't be worried about?"

"Yes"

Lily gave me an exasperated look.

"Seriously, we're just friends, and who says I'm even going to let him get to me? I've got things under control"

"Fine, whatever you say. And no, I didn't see him _exactly_, but I think he mat be with Caroline Adams, the Ravenclaw girl"

I glared at Lily's back. Why was she telling me this? It suddenly occurred to me that she may have been trying to get me jealous, but it wasn't going to work.

Because I didn't care.

"Did you see his face?"

Lily turned to me, "no, but -"

"Then you can't know anything for sure"

I opened the compartment door and slipped out. Taking a few deep breaths, I began looking for Sirius.

**xxx**

Fifteen minutes later, I was still walking through the hallways of the train. I had seen a number of people I knew, but none of them had black hair and an unmistakable over-confidence. Maybe Sirius _was_ busy with some Ravenclaw girl. I scowled. I hated Lily being right.

The best thing to do was to head back to my compartment and change before the train entered Hogsmede station. I turned around and found myself surrounded by Slytherins.

At first, it had seemed like there was a mob, but I soon realized it was only three of four. Most of them were my age, or older, and all of them looked mean and menacing.

It seemed strange that no one else was here; the train wasn't separated by house, was it? And then I realized something; the train was already docked in Hogsmede station.

And I was standing here, surrounded by Slytherins, in muggle clothing.

I turned my attention to the center of the circle. Standing right across from me was Regulus Black.

"There's no point" he said, smiling. The smile was as cold as his eyes.

"I pulled my wand out anyway and held it tightly in my hand. "Let me go", I growled.

"You should've known I'd get back at you; do you think you can attack me and get away with it? And yet, you come and walk right into our midst"

Some of the surrounding Slytherins snickered. I could feel their sneers burning a memory into my brain. This wasn't going to end well.

I stiffened as Regulus came closer. His hand reached over the distance and touched my cheek. Anger erupted inside of me.

"Expel-"

Two or three Slytherins pulled my arms behind my back and yanked the wand out of my hand.

Regulus laughed, "look at the brave little lion"

He stepped back and cocked his head, measuring me with his eyes.

"What a shame" he whispered. "You really are quite beautiful. I can see why Sirius is so infatuated"

Sirius? Infatuated with me? I tried hard not to laugh.

Regulus noticed the amusement on my face. He grinned. "You don't know, do you?"

The amusement slowly turned into cold dread, and then anger. I hated being outnumbered. I hated being surrounded like an animal. And I especially hated his cowardly behavior.

"You don't know" he said, shaking his head.

I glared at Regulus. He was just trying to mess with m. Of all the people in the world, Regulus was the last person Sirius would tell his feelings to.

As if reading my mind, Regulus added, "He hasn't actually said it, per se, but it's so obvious. He messes around with other girls, sure, but they don't mean anything to him. You, on the other hand, _matter_ to him. You, with your dirty blood and muggle family...it would almost do him good if I got rid of you"

I stood straight. He could do whatever he wanted to me, but he would never again have the power to intimidate me.

"So you're going to kill me? Is that what you do to everyone you think is a threat? Ambush them and attack in the shadows like some cowardly little -"

"Shut up! You don't know what I'm capable of"

"You're not going to murder me"

Something stirred in his eyes, but just as fast, they were cold and distant again.

"How do you know?"

"I just do"

"You don't know anything about me. You hear some sob stories from Sirius and you think you understand us, but you don't"

"Then explain it to me"

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, someone shifting around in one of the compartments. There was a wisp of white smoke and then everything was still. I wanted badly to turn my head and look, but I didn't want anyone else to notice what I had seen.

"I don't need to explain anything to you, you disgusting mud-blood. _Crucio_"

I felt the Slytherins let go of me, but after that, I couldn't feel anything except the pain. I didn't feel my body hit the floor. I didn't see Regulus sneering. I didn't hear the hallway door smash open, or the curses (magic or not) being shouted.

Then the pain was over, and everything else came back to me, twenty times stronger than it should have been.

The Cruciatus Curse was not enough to hurt me anymore. If Durmstrang had taught me anything, it was how to survive torture. I get myself back to my feet

All the Slytherins were lying on the floor, unconscious. I saw Lily standing worriedly over one of the girls, whose head seemed to be leaking something red.

"She'll be fine, Evans. Just get off the train before they finish taking the luggage out. The last thing we want is to be sent back to London" James said.

"But shouldn't we do something? I mean, she's _bleeding_. We can't just leave her here like that"

"That snaky friend of yours is getting help"

"She has a point, James" I heard another voice. I saw Remus kneeling on the ground, too, checking another Slytherin for any injuries.

"If the teachers come here and see that she's hurt, we'll get in trouble"

"All right, so we'll just patch her head up"

James said a spell I had never heard in my life, and the girl's bleeding stopped. He stopped down to get a better look at her head.

"It looks like nothing ever happened" he showed Lily, just to appease her.

"Okay, we can leave now" Lily agreed.

James led Lily out of compartment and off the train. Remus followed. Sirius waited for me to go first, and then he got off the train after me.

"Where's Peter?" I asked, wondering why only three marauders had come to my rescue.

"I was pretty sure he was behind us, but I think he chickened out when he saw the Slytherins. My brother has that effect on people"

**xxxxx**

**I completely forgot to update yesterday. Sorry ! :]**


	30. A New Year

**Sirius' POV**

I had my eye on Tami the whole time. I refused to leave her side, whether it was when Dumbledore wanted to talk to her, or when she had to sit in the hospital wing. I just couldn't let her out of my sight. Not after what had happened, and with my brother, too.

We were all sitting in the common room later on; Lily, James, Tami, Remus and I.

"How can we know something like this won't happen again?" Lily asked, glancing in Tami's direction.

If Tami noticed, she made no indication.

The only movement she made was the occasional trembles. I was sitting next to her, and I could feel her body shake every so often. I couldn't tell if it was because of the aftermath of the attack or just pure exhaustion.

No one was paying attention to me anymore, since I had withdrawn myself from the conversation. I bent down and whispered in Tami's ear, "you okay?"

Tami nodded but said nothing. I sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"If it's...something he did...I swear, I'll kill that..."

"No, I'm fine. I'm used it"

Used to what? I decided not to pursue the subject.

"Did he say anything to you?"

I watched her face carefully and saw what looked distinctively like pain, enter her expression for just a moment. Then it went back to its regular blankness.

"What did he say to you?" I asked.

She shook her head, "nothing."

"Tami, I swear to god" I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the common room.

"Tell me everything that happened" I said, once we were alone.

Tami glared at me, her arms crossed. I glared back. There was no way she was going to win this time. I needed to know what Regulus said.

"He called me beautiful. Touched my cheek" Tami shuddered and her eyes grew darker. "He said that you were infatuated with me - whatever that means. And that you cared about me. Then he said he'd be doing you good by getting rid of me. Can I go back in now?"

It took me a while to take that in. I felt when my brain awakened from shock; my brain immediately began working on ways to stay as far from Tami as possible.

"I'll talk to you later' I finally replied.

I stood outside the common room door until James asked me what I was doing. After that, I stayed in my bed. I stayed there all of the weekend.

I couldn't stop thinking about what Tami had said. From beginning to end, it was shocking.

Except the part where Regulus said she was beautiful, because she really was.

But everything else was horrible. First of all, how could Regulus have lied to her? Telling her that I was infatuated with her? And of course, I cared about her – but in a different way than the other girls I knew. I cared about her like a best friend or a sister almost. I knew that no matter what, I had to protect her, when – and if – she was incapable of taking care of herself. And the last part...the last part was the limit. It wasn't true, and Tami knew that, so there was nothing to worry about...but it still made me mad.

What really, really made me mad was the thought of Regulus touching her cheek. Of Regulus being anywhere near her.

He needed to pay. He needed to suffer, too. But I wasn't sure how to do that.

_

* * *

_

_I was running through a hallway I didn't recognize, entering a room that I didn't recognize either. The room was clearly a bedroom, but all the furniture was gone. In the middle of the room, there was a wooden chair. Lying next to it was someone's body._

_Something caught in my throat as I slowly approached the body. I squatted down and turned her over, so I could see her face one last time._

_Her eyes were open, staring blankly up at the ceiling. I could feel the tears starting to leak out of my eyes. It didn't matter that I was crying. I was in love with this girl, and now she was gone._

_Tami was gone because of Regulus._

"Sirius, wake up"

I jerked awake and quickly sat up. I wasn't in a strange room anymore, I was in the boys' dormitory, and there was no Tami in sight.

"I know what Regulus did was terrible, but what's this about killing him?" Remus asked from across the room. It seemed as I had woken everyone up.

"Killing?" I asked, confused.

"You kept screaming that you were going to kill him. Sirius, what did he do in your dream?"

I didn't answer Remus. Instead, I lay back down on my bed and went to sleep.

* * *

When Monday came around, I decided revenge was the wrong choice. The only thing I could think of doing was keeping Tami safe.

**xxx**

Tami's POV

I entered the Great Hall and the first thing I saw was Sirius sitting at the Ravenclaw table with some girl. She looked like a fourth or fifth year student. Brown hair, brown eyes, very average but still beautiful. Just the type to fall for Sirius' sweet side.

I scowled. This was the last thing I wanted to see while eating breakfast; mushiness.

I chose a seat across from Lily, which conveniently faced the direction opposite Sirius. Unfortunately, I had a perfect view of the Slytherin table. I saw Regulus staring at me, smirking. His eyes flashed to where Sirius was sitting, then back at me. He raised his eyebrows. I tried to keep my face expressionless.

"Don't look at him, Tami" Lily scolded, noticing where I was looking.

I looked down at my empty plate. What was Regulus gaining from this?

"Aren't you going to eat something?" Lily asked.

"No"

"I told you not to trust him"

"I don't know what you're talking about" I snapped. I stood up, retrieved my schedule from Professor McGonagall and made my way to my first class.

* * *

It felt like Sirius was avoiding me or ignoring me, but whenever I talked to him he acted normal. The only thing I noticed was that he never came close to me - like he used to - and he never touched me. He talked to me like I was just Tami, but it didn't feel the same. I wasn't sure how to react; should I say something? Or would saying something seem stupid? I tried to figure out why it even mattered, but I couldn't.

I threw myself into schoolwork, trying to ignore the fact that something was wrong between me and Sirius. And it had all started after the train incident.

So basically, it was all Regulus' fault.

Lily tried everything to make me feel better. She tried to comfort me, telling me that in the end, it would all be okay. She tried to insult him, in hopes of making me realize that I wasn't missing out on anything. She even tried to do it the Sirius way; by joking around and making me laugh. The only good that came from that was Lily realizing she was horrible at making jokes.

It just wasn't the same without Sirius. Of course, Lily was my best friend. But Sirius had been right the night he had come to my room - I was second-closest to him.

I didn't even get the chance to tell him what had happened over the summer. I hadn't told anyone. And now that Sirius was gone, I didn't feel like telling anyone anyway.

Maybe things were better this way. Maybe this was what I needed.

Sixth year didn't look that great so far.

* * *

**That's the end of Part One ! Wow, thirty chapters, and we're no where near done!**


	31. Sick Little Games

**Sick Little Games**

**Tami's POV**

I was sitting in the Great Hall with Lily, Marlene and a bunch of other girls. Marlene was – as usual, the center of attention. The only ones who weren't really paying attention were me and Lily.

"Tami" Marlene said. "I'm completely done with Ricky, so if you want him, go ahead"

I looked at her confused. She smiled, as if she thought she was doing me a favor. Then I realized that she really did think she was doing me a favor.

I gave Lily a look and she burst out laughing. I couldn't stop myself from smiling, too.

That's when Ricky showed up, and Lily had to leave before she completely died of laughter.

Ricky sat down next to us, which caused Marlene to open her big mouth again.

"I know what you're trying to do Ricky, but I'm not getting back with you"

It was my turn to burst out laughing. It was Ricky's turn to look confused.

"I came here to talk to Tami. Don't worry yourself, Marlene; I'm not going to bother you with getting back together"

Marlene saw the amusement in Ricky's tone and didn't take it too well. She stood up and stalked away, sulking.

"You go out with a girl once and she thinks you'll be obsessed for life" Ricky commented.

"She's the only girl who would think that" I replied.

"So if we went out, you wouldn't think it was a big deal?"

"Ricky...I can't go out with you"

"Why not? You and Sirius are done, right? I don't see you even talking to him anymore"

"I talk to him" I said, defensively. I looked where Sirius was sitting, at the Ravenclaw table again, but with a different girl. It didn't make me sick anymore, but I still felt sad. I missed the old Sirius, the one who made time for me.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Listen, all I'm asking is for one date. I'm not the type to beg, but for you, I just might make an exception"

I smiled.

"What do you say? Hogsmede this weekend?"

"Fine" I said, rolling my eyes.

* * *

"So you're going out with Ricky?" Lily asked. We were in the girl's dormitory, getting ready for bed.

"It's not that big of a deal"

"Yes it is! He was after you since his first day here"

"So what? It's still not a big deal" I replied, trying to keep the smile off my face.

Ever since our conversation on the Quiditch grounds, Ricky had been trying to get on my good side. I had to admit, he was very good at being sweet. He was almost as good as Sirius, but different somehow. He seemed to still really like me, and I was clearly enjoying that.

I could see myself falling for Ricky now. Something was different about him. Or maybe something was different about me? I wasn't sure what it was, but I liked the way things were anyway.

"So you're going out with Ricky, hm?" Marlene asked, as she stepped through the doorway. She had her cronies behind her.

"I guess so" I smiled at her.

"That's pretty surprising. You don't seem his type"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I'm just...surprised"

Then Marlene entered the bathroom.

"Don't listen to her" Lily whispered to me. "You know she's just jealous because Ricky doesn't want anything to do with her. She's mad"

I nodded and got into my bed. I pulled the covers up so they covered my face. Even though I knew Lily was right, the fact that Ricky would go out with someone like Marlene made me a little nervous. Was he used to girls like that? Did he expect me to be like her?

Most of all, what had they done when they were together?

* * *

Sirius' POV:

Just when I thought Ricky wouldn't be a problem anymore, James came into the common room and said the last thing I ever wanted to hear.

"Tami's going out with Ricky this weekend"

I looked up at James, Remus looked over at me. Peter just looked between all three of us.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. This was ridiculous. Tami would never agree to go out with someone like Ricky.

"That's what I heard. It's all over the school, mate. I've never seen Marlene so angry"

"I don't believe it"

"It's true! Why don't you go ahead and ask her?" James said as he sat down in the chair across from me.

"It's not important enough" I said, and went back to watching the gorgeous fifth year sitting with her friends. How come I had never noticed her last year?

"How long is this going to go on?" Remus asked. "We all know you guys were close. How can you just treat her like this?"

I sat up and looked Remus in the eye. "It's for her own good. I can't have Regulus thinking I care about her, or he'll keep going after her"

"He's going to keep going after her whether or not you guys are close. You're not helping by avoiding her"

"I'm not avoiding her!"

"Actually, you're making things worse. Let's say Regulus attacks her again –although I doubt he will after how much trouble he got into the first time –"

"Regulus doesn't care about detention, he's seriously demented"

"Sirius, the point is if he attacks her again, you won't be around to save her. Because you are avoiding her at all costs" Remus snapped.

"Do you guys think I don't want to go back to being her friend? I just can't now. It wouldn't make sense for me to just go up to her and suddenly be all chummy"

"So you want to be her friend?" James asked.

"I don't know! You guys..." I shook my head. I stood up and walked out of the common room. This was just too much for me to handle.

* * *

I was walking through the halls when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, ready to shout at those three for continuing to badger me, but I found Regulus instead. He was alone, and he seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see him.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled, pulling my wand out.

"I don't want to fight. Not right now anyway"

"Why? Not enough of your friends watching?"

"Yes, that's the reason" Regulus laughed. "Do you really think I would gain anything from physically attacking you? Granted, I am capable of causing you so much pain, you'd lose your senses. But I'm not after you anymore"

I lowered my wand and looked at Regulus. Fear flooded into me. "Who are you after?" I whispered.

"You know who I'm after, Sirius"

"She doesn't matter to me anymore. She's useless to me"

"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say"

"I honestly don't care what you do to her. _I hate her!_"

"So you wouldn't care if she died?"

I forced myself to keep my composure. "No"

"Sorry, dear" Regulus said, no longer speaking to me. I turned and saw Tami standing there.

I could see that she was crying.

"Tami, wait, I can explain"

"Don't bother"

Tami turned and ran. I looked at Regulus, who was smiling.

"You knew she was behind me"

"Of course"

"What the hell do you want, Regulus!"

"I want her; isn't that obvious? You're not right for her, and neither is that Ricky. She's stronger than all of you, and she has a fire that I've never seen in anyone else. She needs someone who can take her places"

"She's never going to be yours, Regulus. She's a Gryffindor, and she hates you"

"Not as much as she hates you right now" Regulus smirked. "She'll do anything to make you mad now"

I glared at Regulus. All of this was his fault; he was causing all the problems in my life. Why couldn't I just kill him now and be done with it?

"Just stay away from her, or else"

I left before Regulus could respond.

* * *

**Nothing left to study for ! :]**


	32. Hopes and Dreams

**Sirius' POV**

There were so many colors. That was all I saw at first; swirls of colors rotating around and around. It was literally enough to make you dizzy. Then the colors began to slow down and then they stopped moving all together. And it was as if my eyesight was sharpening; the smudges were no longer smudges. They were solid images.

Finally, I saw what all the colors and confusion had been in the first place. I was looking at a girl of around sixteen, sitting beside a wishing well. She was whispering to herself, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. I couldn't even see her face, since her back was to me. But I could see her shiny black hair and pale, delicate hand, as she pulled out a coin and dropped it in the well. Then she sighed. There was sadness in that sigh, and longing. And something else; hope maybe?

I watched as the girl stood up and took a long, meaningful look at the water. Then she turned around and walked past me. Until then, I hadn't been aware that I was mo re than a shadow; a spirit invisible to her beautiful, green eyes. And as my gaze followed her figure down the law to a large, white house, I felt the longing burst inside of me.

I wanted her.

"Sirius! Sirius! Wake up, it's Monday!"

I slapped the hand away from me and turned over in my bed.

"Leave me alone" I responded. Or at least I think I did. Then I slipped back into a world of colors.

* * *

"For some strange reason, I think I dreamed about a girl last night" I said as I sat down across from James. Everyone was pouring into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Good of you to finally join us, mate" James commented, grinning.

"I was tired" I defended myself. Yes, I had slept through the whole morning, and part of the afternoon, but I had a good reason. It's not like I got enough rest when I have to run around at night with a werewolf.

"So were we, but we all managed to wake up on time"

"And it's not really strange that you would dream about a girl" Remus added.

"It is this time" I replied, taking some orange juice and thinking back to my dream. "The girl was strange; she reminded me of someone I know, but I just can't place my finger on whom"

"Possibly your girlfriend?"

"One, that's not my girlfriend; you know I don't have girlfriends. And two, it wasn't her. It was someone with black hair and green eyes."

"Well, Jasmine does have the black hair, but no green eyes"

"It's definitely not her" I answered, watching Jasmine sitting with her fifth year friends. She caught me looking and smiled.

"And if any of you say anything to her about the girl in my dream, I'll hunt you down and kill you"

* * *

"I'll get the butterbeers, you get the table" I told James as we entered the overheated atmosphere of The Three Broomsticks.

"Too bad we're not allowed to get anything stronger" James muttered.

I snorted, but chose not to comment. It's not that we weren't capable of getting our hands on alcohol, but doing it in broad daylight, in front of everyone from Hogwarts – including teachers – just wasn't a smart move.

"Four butterbeers" I told the waitress behind the counter. I walked back to the table that James had secured and sat down. That's when I saw Tami and Ricky walk in.

"I can't believe they're actually on a date right now"

"Why? Ricky's not that bad"

"Don't get me wrong, mate. I have no problems with Ricky anymore. I just literally can't believe it"

"Sirius" James said sitting up. I gave him a questioning look but he didn't respond immediately; he was still watching Tami and Ricky.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tami has black hair and green eyes!"

I turned to look and saw – with surprise – that James was right. Tami did have black hair and green eyes.

"That doesn't mean anything" I declared. It didn't at all; I didn't have feeling for Tami like that. Although, I was bothered that she was going out with Ricky.

What was I saying! I wasn't jealous; I was just confused. I didn't think Tami would ever think of Ricky that way, but I was not jealous. That was never a possibility.

"But you said in your dream–"

"There are a lot of other girls with green eyes and black hair" I replied, shrugging. "And anyway, it was just a dream"

"Yeah, but how many black-haired, green-eyed girl do you know well enough to dream about?"

"Drop it" I said.

"Drop what?" Remus asked, sitting down and taking a butterbeer from the center of the table.

"I just realized that Tami has green eyes and black hair, but Sirius refuses to admit that it's possible she was his dream-girl"

"She's not my dream-girl!" I snapped.

Remus completely ignored my outburst. "That could be a possibility, Sirius; she has all the right characteristics"

"It's just a coincidence"

"Maybe" Remus smiled. "But I doubt it"

James snickered and I aimed a kick at his shin from under the table.

"Do you think they're hitting it off? I asked, watching Tami with Ricky. They just seemed to be talking, but it bothered me still.

"Why do you care?" James asked.

"I just do"

"Well, she certainly doesn't think that. What exactly did you say again? That you wouldn't care if she were dead?"

"I didn't mean it"

"At this right, I just hop Ricky can take on Regulus"

"No one can take on Regulus. He's pure evil"

"No one besides us"

"True"

"If you guys think you're the only one who can take on Regulus, you're the ones everyone would expect to protect Tami" Remus commented.

"I don't mind" James replied.

"And I can't" I said. "She'd be in too much danger"

"Sirius, whether you're her friend or not, she's always going to be in danger, when it comes to him. You're not protecting her by staying away"

"He just wants her because he thinks I want her. That's the only reason he's going after her"

"I don't think so, Sirius"

I shrugged, but chose not to respond. Honestly, I no longer knew why I was staying away from Tami, but I was never going to admit that. I did believe the best way to get rid of Regulus would be to tone things down a bit; possibly get Tami out of the picture. But I couldn't say that it was definitely going to work. I had to take this chance and hope for the best.

And even If I did change my mind and try to be Tami's friend again, who's to say she would take me? She hated my guts now, and probably didn't want to see my face ever again.

* * *

**Tami's POV**

"I hate seeing his face; I wish I never had to see it again" I whispered to Ricky as we sat down at a table in the Three Broomsticks.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

"I heard him say something"

"Okay, I know when I shouldn't pry. I'll go get the drinks"

I watched Ricky walk to the counter, until the crowd swallowed him up whole. Then I looked back down at the table.

Thinking about what Sirius had said hurt, but I knew I couldn't let it get to me. I had other things and other people to concentrate on.

Like Ricky. Why was I here? Was this the right thing to do? I knew that I liked Ricky, but not the way he liked me. I knew that even if I tried to make myself like him that way, it wouldn't work, but I was trying anyway. I also knew that I was here to make Sirius angry, too. Ricky was the second to last person that Sirius wanted to see me with. Regulus was the first.

But Regulus was evil, just like Sirius was probably telling James and Remus right now. Even the thought of using him to make Sirius angry was something I couldn't do. It was just too scary.

So I guess I had settled on Ricky, hoping that one out of two things could happen. Either I could fall for Ricky or I could make Sirius angrier and angrier until he couldn't take it.

But I would never be able to make Sirius as mad as I felt right now.

"What are you thinking about?" Ricky asked when he sat back down.

"Nothing...I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you what happened. It's not that I don't trust you, I just...it's not something I want to remember, you know?"

"I understand, Tami. I'd never make you do something that you don't want to do"

I took a deep breath. "I was walking to the Gryffindor common room when I heard Sirius and Regulus talking."

"Regulus is..." Ricky gave me a confused look.

"Regulus is Sirius' evil brother who wants to torture me"

"Oh"

"I didn't really hear all of their conversation. I just heard Regulus ask if Sirius would care if I lied, and Sirius said no"

I looked at my half empty butterbeer glass.

"I knew Sirius was acting weird around me, you know? He wasn't acting the same as he used to, and I couldn't understand why. But I didn't think he would be so horrible. I hate him. I really do"

"Tami" Ricky reached over the table and took my hand in his. "Just forget about him, forget about both of them. I swear, I won't let either of them hurt you again"

I smiled at Ricky and he smiled back. Maybe falling for him wouldn't be so hard after all.


	33. Every Rose Has Its Thorn

**Tami's POV**

"A Hogwarts ball?" I asked Lily. She nodded. "You're joking right?"

"Come on! It'll be fun. Plus you have a date already; he just needs to ask you"

"But that's a whole fluffy-dress, high-heel kind of affair. I don't do those things. I don't even know how to do those things!"

"You're living in a dorm with a bunch of girls! We'll help you get ready; all you have to do is look pretty"

"I don't think I can even do that"

"You don't need to; you already look so beautiful" I felt Ricky kiss my cheek, and then sit down on the armrest of my chair.

"What are you girls talking about?"

"The Hogwarts ball. Ricky, you have to take Tami"

"Of course" Ricky replied. "We should go" he nudged me.

I looked up at him and pleaded him with my eyes. I wasn't that kind of girl.

"Come on, Tami. I think it's time I finally see you in a dress"

I groaned and put my face in my hands. "Guys, this is going to be so embarrassing"

"Everyone is going. Do you really want to be the only one not?"

"That's fine by me" I looked up and smiled at Lily.

"It's _not_ fine by me. You're going and that's that"

* * *

Wearing my hair up for a dance was torture, but having to walk around like that all day was worse. It was all Lily's fault; part of her pre-readiness plan. Along with the high-heels.

"You're going to need practice if you want to pull this off tonight"

But I didn't want to pull it off. I didn't even want to really go. Everyone else seemed excited though, and I just couldn't ruin that for them. Even Ricky seemed excited, which was just strange. Then again, if I was really going to do this tonight, I needed to make sure that I didn't make a complete fool of myself.

For now, I would just have to ignore the stares and the snickers, as I tripped my way from class to class.

* * *

"There, you're completely perfect. Ricky's going to die when he sees you"

I sat down in a chair and crossed my arms, annoyed. Lily had been fussing over me for hours.

"Aren't you going to look at yourself?"

"No" I replied angrily.

"Tami, get up and look" Lily crossed her arms too and glared back at me.

Exasperated, I stood up and stomped over to the mirror. What I saw took me by surprise. I didn't look like me at all. I looked –

"Beautiful" Lily stood behind me.

"I don't know about that" I said softly. But deep down, I liked the idea of being beautiful.

xxx

**Sirius' POV**

Dances weren't my thing, but I suppose that goes for every guy. It was just a waste of time to me.

On the other hand, girls looked at these events as reasons to get dressed up in short dresses and as chances to find 'romance'.

So maybe taking advantage of their expectations was wrong. I did feel slightly guilty sometimes, for the way I treated them, but that's just the kind of guy I was. I was Sirius Black. Of all the things, girls should that as a warning to stay away from me. Instead, they swarmed around me like bees to honey.

And I liked that. I liked that a lot. Especially now.

"I love these things" James whispered to me as he handed me a drink.

"I know. It's like they're all asking to be kissed"

I smiled at a few girls passing by and they all burst into giggles. Younger girls were always the easiest.

"Tonight's going to be…"

When James didn't continue, I glanced over at him to make sure he was okay. He looked like he was in a trance. I poked him in the arm, waved my hand in front of his eyes, and then I noticed that he was watching something. I looked at when he was looking at and saw Lily standing with her date; a 7th year from Hufflepuff.

"How does she always find the most ridiculous dates?"

"I should have asked her" James replied.

"What!" I exclaimed, but I didn't get a chance to finish. Just then, Tami walked in and everything else seemed to disappear.

Her hair was up, just like it had been all day, but right now, something was different. Her dark hair shone brighter than ever before. And she was wearing a white, flowing dress that reached all the way to the floor. All together, it reminded me of something, but I didn't know what. I just knew I was drawn to her.

It was the strangest feeling. I had never seen anyone so beautiful, so mesmerizing, but it was all just the same Tami I knew and loved.

Loved?

I shook my head to clear it and grabbed James by the arm. I dragged him away before either of us did something we would most definitely regret.

"She looks so beautiful" James said, watching Lily.

"I know" I replied. I hadn't intended on anyone hearing me.

"When did you start liking Lily?" Remus asked me, giving me a strange look.

James turned to glare at me.

"I wasn't talking about Lily!" I said quickly, before James could attack me.

"Then who were you talking about?"

I avoided eye contact. "No one"

For the rest of the night, I talked with and danced with many different girls – all of whom were interested in me, I might add – but I had all my attention on Tami. I couldn't ignore her; it was impossible. But she found it more than easy to ignore me.

It suddenly hurt to see her with Ricky. Or maybe it always had, and I had always tried not to admit it to myself. I didn't want Tami to be with Ricky. I wanted her to be that girl I could talk to again and laugh with again. I wanted her to be mine.

xxx

**Tami's POV**

"You know we don't have to stay here if you don't want to, right?"

I shrugged, watching all the happy couples dancing.

"Where would we go?" I replied.

"Up to the common room? We could just hang out there"

I thought about it for a second. "No" I finally decided. "I couldn't do that to Lily"

"Tami," Ricky stood in front of me and looked me in the eye as he held my shoulders. "It's clear to everyone that you're not having fun. I think Lily would understand if you cut the dance a little short. This is just not your cup of tea"

Ricky pushed stray strand of hair away from my face. I smiled up at him. "Okay"

"You go on ahead and I'll explain to Lily"

I made my way out of the Great Hall and began the trek to Gryffindor tower.

I was halfway there when I saw someone coming towards me. From far away, he looked like a Slytherin. When I got closer, I realized it wasn't just any Slytherin.

"What are the odds?" Regulus said as we stopped a few feet away from each other.

When I didn't respond, he continued. "You look stunning tonight, Tami"

I could feel my anger erupting inside of me. In one swift motion, I pulled my wand from my shoe strap and pointed it at Regulus.

"You really don't want to do that" he said softly, pulling his own wand out.

"You don't understand, Regulus. I _do_ want to" I finally responded.

"What makes you think you even stand a chance?"

"You don't know anything about me"

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I know more than you think"

"Do go on"

"I know your mother died when you were young –"

"She didn't just _die_; she was murdered"

"You grew up an orphan, moving from place to place. You didn't even stay in the same orphanage. You went to numerous schools, finally settling in Hogwarts for almost one and a half years. You never knew your father until recently, but you can't even get close to him because his wife is a controlling, anti-wizard freak who would prefer it that you stayed far away from her newly formed family."

I stared at Regulus for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. He did know more about me than I expected, but he didn't know enough.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked with an arrogant smile.

"You ignored the fact that my mother died at the hands of ruthless monsters. And you've seemed to disregard the fact that I have much more fighting experience than you have; both physical and magical. I'm not the fragile little girl everyone thinks I am.

"No one thinks you're a fragile little girl, Tami, and I certainly don't. I saw the greatness in you the first time I met you. When you managed to sneak up on me and stun me so badly, I was out for quite a while. Not many can do that; even my brother and his friends have trouble beating me sometimes. You've amazed me from the beginning"

Regulus took a couple of steps towards me. I raised my wand higher up defensively.

"I can lead you to greatness, you know. I can help you with every problem you have. We can bring your mother back together. With the right amount of power, we can achieve anything. You can gain so much from me"

I snorted. "Tell me one thing; did your mother drop you as a baby? The Death Eaters took my mother away from me. For some reason, I can't imagine them bringing her back. Not in the right way"

"We can find the right way. I'm offering you my services and the Dark Lord's services, too"

"There is nothing and no one in the world who could ever make me join you! My mother died resisting the dark side; joining you would just make that meaningless."

I could see the muscles tighten in Regulus' face. He sneered angrily.

"It already is. Don't worry; I'll see to it myself that you follow your mother's steps. _Serp-_"

"_Expelliarmus_" I shouted, cutting him off. He expertly dodged the spell and was back on his feet before I could blink.

"_Serpensortia_"

I took a large step back as a large, menacing snake erupted from Regulus' wand.

"Scared of snakes, little girl?"

With a small gesture of my wand, the snake dissolved into smoke. "_Petrificus Totalus_"

"_Protego_"

I locked eyes with Regulus, as we both stood there, trying to catch our breath. "You're not going to –"

"_Stupefy_" I could feel all my anger and hate released in that one word, and I watched, satisfied, as Regulus flew backwards and hit the wall with a crash.

I walked up to where he lay, knocked out completely. I checked to make sure he wasn't hurt seriously. Then I stood up and stared at his face. He looked so much like Sirius.

"That's what you get for stopping to talk, you idiot. Don't _ever_ underestimate me again"


	34. Second Chances

**Second Chances**

**Tami's POV**

I was sitting in the library with Ricky when Sirius came up to us.

"Are you insane?" he asked, clearly furious. Then he looked at Ricky and said "do you mind?"

"Not at all" Ricky replied and walked off to talk to someone else. Sirius sat down across from me.

"Well?"

"Well what?" I asked, refusing to look up at his face.

"Are you insane?"

I took a deep breath, and answered "no –"

"Then where did you get the idea that fighting Regulus would've been safer than trying to get help?"

"Lily" I hissed.

"Lucky Peter is so invisible that two girls walking by with some very interesting bit of gossip can't see him"

"She wasn't supposed to tell!"

"Tami!"

"What?"

"Are you insane?"

"Will you stop asking me that?" I shouted.

Then both Sirius and I got kicked out of the library.

"Thanks" I snapped as we both made our way to the common room. "Now I get to study with Marlene's yapping in the background"

"Stop changing the subject!"

"_Stop_ following me around"

"I'll stop following you around when you stop getting yourself into life and death situations"

"I don't need you to protect me"

"Oh, really? Well, I guess that means I wasted three months of my life"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing" Sirius said, finally lowering his voice.

I stopped walking and turned around to face him. "I didn't have a choice, Sirius. I had to either fight him or do nothing, and I'm not the type of girl who does nothing – you should know that. I don't need your protection, or anyone else's, so leave me alone. I've learned how to handle myself over the years, and to protect myself. I went to Durmstrang, for god's sake! You think it was all friendship and love there? No! It was hard living in a school where I couldn't trust anyone; I learned how to keep myself from getting hurt. And before that, I lived in orphanages. I didn't have the luxuries that you had, Sirius. I was convinced that I was a failure for the first eleven years of my life because that's what the matron's told us every day! But I clawed myself up to the top of the ranks; it was a painful and hard experience, but at the end, I ruled every orphanage I lived in."

"I didn't –"

"It's okay, Sirius. You weren't supposed to"

I turned back around and walked away before he could say anything more.

* * *

"Tami" Ricky got up from his seat near the fireplace and walked me to the staircase. "So what did Sirius want?"

"To harass me"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He just heard some gossip about me and he was overreacting about it"

"Okay, that's not vague at all."

"I'm sorry; I just don't feel like talking about it. I'll catch you later, okay?"

I went up to the girls' dormitory before Ricky could reply. I just didn't want to talk to anyone right now. I had too much to think about it, and no time to think. I needed to finish my homework and reorganize my life, before everything went out of control.

"If it hasn't reached that point yet" I said out loud to myself, rolling my eyes. I spread my homework out on the bed and began working.

**xxx**

**Sirius' POV**

"It's true" I said, finding James outside, near our favorite tree.

"What is?"

I sat down and made myself comfortable, before replying. "Tami took on Regulus by herself, and she won"

"That's one crazy girl right there" James said, shaking his head. "No wonder you like her"

"Will you shut your mouth? Say it any louder and you may as well announce it to the whole school!" I hissed, looking around to make sure no one had heard.

"I could do that if you want"

"Why in the world would I want you to do that?"

"I don't know, mate. For kicks?"

"This isn't just any girl, James."

"I know that. You think I don't know that? She knocked out your brother! But your approach doesn't need to be any different, cause she's still _a girl_"

"Approach to what?"

"Asking her on a date, of course"

"She's with Ricky"

"When has a boyfriend ever stopped you?"

"That's…true"

"Don't listen to James, Sirius. I don't think you should do this" Remus commented.

"I haven't even decided to do anything yet"

"No, but you guys are already coming up with some ridiculous plan. All I'm saying is that you should let Tami know how you feel, but don't put her in a position that could jeopardize your friendship"

"We're not even friends!"

"Oh come on, the only thing that's stopping your friendship right now is your insane idea that she needs protection. She's already proved that she's capable of protecting herself."

"Honestly, mate, I think you should let go of that idea too." James added.

"And I just suddenly become friends with her again? It's not like I can explain to her why I started avoiding her"

"Actually, you don't really need to…"

I looked at James, who was guiltily avoiding my gaze. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I was talking about your crazy idea with Peter and Lily overheard, and then she threatened to fry my eyebrows off if I didn't tell her the whole thing, and you know how horrible I'd look without eyebrows, right? I mean, my whole face would look lopsided and -"

"James" I said threateningly. I didn't like the sound of this.

"I sort of told her everything, and I'm sure she told Tami everything…she knows that you didn't mean what you said that night. So I did you a favor, right?"

In my mind, I decided to get James back later. There were more pressing concerns demanding my attention at that moment.

"Why didn't she say anything today? We had a whole conversation; she told me her whole life story"

"Maybe she didn't want to get James in trouble for his ignorance" Remus commented.

"Too late for that" I said, looking at James with narrowed eyes.

"I'm sorry" James said. "But that solves everything. All you have to do is fess up to her"

I leaned back against the tree trunk and closed my eyes. "I don't know if I can do that"

* * *

"Tami!"

Tami turned and looked at me. "What?" she snapped.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Okay, talk"

"I was thinking more like outside in the hall"

Where other people couldn't see how embarrassed I was.

Tami shrugged and followed me outside the Great Hall. I pulled her into a more secluded part and took a deep breath.

"I know James told you everything"

"Okay, and?"

"Aren't you going to say anything about it? Don't you have questions about…why?"

"Not really; I think I know why you felt the need to go to drastic measures to 'keep me safe'" she said, making air quotes.

"You do?"

Oh god, was it that obvious to everyone but me? Did everyone know that I fancied Tami? Would I have to get into a fight with Ricky over her? But I had nothing to worry about; I'd win blindfolded.

"Yes, I do" she replied, expressionless.

I hesitated before asking my next question.

"And you don't care?"

"Of course I care. I'm furious. Why do you think I explained about all the hardships in my life?"

"Wait, what? What does that have to do with my feelings?"

"What?" Tami asked. Her facial expression turned from anger to confusion. "Your feelings about what?"

"Wait; hold on, why do you think I tried to protect you?"

"Because you thought I was weak or something. You were questioning my ability to protect myself" she said, glaring at me again.

"Tami" I started laughing. Mostly from relief; she didn't know! "It was never a question of your fighting skills"

"Then why did you do this?"

"Wait no, I change my mind. That was the reason. Gosh, you're smart" I said hastily.

She gave me an annoyed look and tried to walk past me. I stopped her before she could go back into the Great Hall.

"So are we friends again?"

"I don't know, Sirius -"

"Please? I just want to put all of this behind us."

"I'll have to think about it…"

"Come on, admit it, you need me"

"In your dreams" Tami replied, rolling her eyes. Then she smiled. "This is your last chance"

She poked my chest with her finger.

"Don't you _dare_ blow it. And just so you know, you're on probation"

"I am your humble servant" I said, pulling her into a bear hug.

"Get off me!" She said, laughing. Then she pushed me off and disappeared into the Great Hall.

Maybe getting her to fall for me wouldn't be so hard.

"Hey Sirius, do you know where Tami is?" Ricky asked, coming up beside me.

"She just went in"

"Thanks" he said, slapping my shoulder on his way in.

"Forgot about him for a second" I muttered to myself. Then I followed the crowd in for dinner.


	35. Ever Fallen In Love

**Ever Fallen In Love**

**Tami's POV**

"This is romantic" I said softly, sitting next to Ricky near the fireplace.

"I think I paid pretty much everyone in this house to be gone tonight"

"I was wondering why it was so empty" I replied. And it really was. No one had been in the room for hours, and at first, I couldn't understand why. I had thought that we'd be interrupted every five minutes, but now I knew why that wasn't happening.

"You're so sweet" I said. I leaned over and kissed him. Immediately, he pulled me back for more kisses, and before I knew it, why were lying horizontally on the couch.

"Ricky" I said, between kisses.

"Mm?"

"Stop" I said, lightly pushing against him.

He stopped, sat up and looked at me. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" I said, sitting up straighter. I pulled my legs up and cradled them against my chest. "I'm just not ready for that"

"You're right, Tami, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that"

"It's okay -"

"No, it's not. But I'm glad you forgive me" he said. He leaned over, gave me a quick kiss. Then he sat back.

It was silent for a few moments. I wasn't sure what to say. I was aware that we'd been going out for a while now, but getting that intimate with him seemed wrong. I just wasn't ready for anything more than snogging.

"I think we should let everyone know they can come back in" Ricky said finally.

"Okay" was the only reply I was able to get in, before the common room door closed behind Ricky.

I went upstairs to the dormitory. Before anyone could come up and ask me questions, I was in my bed, pretending to sleep. I listened as everyone else whispered around me about what could have happened, should have happened between me and Ricky. Soon, the room was quiet and I could breathe normally again.

"I know you're awake" Lily whispered from the bed next to me.

"No I'm not" I whispered back.

"Did anything happen?"

I could feel Lily waiting for my response like her life depended on it. For once, I was happy that I had nothing to hide.

"No"

"Marlene said that you were - I mean, that Ricky wanted…I guess it was just talk"

"Probably"

"Goodnight, Tami. Sleep well"

"You too"

* * *

"So" Sirius cornered me in the library, behind some bookshelves. I put the book I was looking at back on the shelf and turned to face him.

"So?"

"Heard you had an interesting night" he said, nonchalantly.

"I really did; I hung out with Ricky and then went to sleep"

"Tami, I'm not a child. No one clears out the whole common room to 'hang out'"

"Well, I don't know what you were expecting to hear" I snapped, trying to hide my face. I could feel the heat rising, and if Sirius saw, he would get the wrong idea.

"Why are you hiding your face?" Sirius tried to turn me around, but I refused to comply.

"You're lying!" he said. "I can't believe this"

"Stop overreacting!" I turned to face him. "I swear on Merlin's pants that nothing happened"

"Do you realize how serious that statement is? You better not be lying" he said, shaking his finger in my face. I pushed his hand away.

"I promise I'm not lying, _mom_"

"I don't care what you call me. You just better not be lying"

I rolled my eyes and walked to my table. I packed up my things and started to leave the library. Sirius followed me out. "You want to go down to the lake or something?"

"Don't you have homework to do?" I asked as we walked to the common room together.

"If you answer my question, I'll answer yours"

"My answer is no. What's yours?"

"How crazy is this? My answer is no, too. And you're done with your homework so come on!"

"Fine," I groaned. "But only for a little while"

**xxx**

**Sirius' POV**

"So tell me about your mother" I said.

"What?"

We were lying down on the grass near the lake, looking up at the sky. We had been there pretty much all afternoon; just lying around and talking. It was surprising how much there was to talk about. If I had known before that talking could be so much fun, maybe I would have spent less time snogging. Then again, something told me it was only fun because I was with Tami.

"Well, you compared me to your mom before. I want to know how you really see me"

"I'm going to pretend that was a serious question"

I laughed and turned on my side, so I was looking at Tami. "It is a serious question. I was just messing around, but seriously, what was your mom like?"

"To tell you the truth, I can't remember much from back then. I know she looked like me. Green eyes, black hair."

"So that's where you get your beauty from" I said softly.

"What?"

"Nothing" I said quickly.

"Did you just call me beautiful?"

"No, I -"

"Yes you did!" Tami exclaimed, sitting up. "I can't believe it; Sirius Black complimenting me? I'm so honored"

I sat up, too. "I didn't say that!"

"So I'm _not_ beautiful?" She crossed her arms and glared at me.

"No no, I just meant - I mean, you're...not...bad-looking -"

"Oh, thanks -"

I put my finger up to her lips to silence her. "Will you just let me explain? You always talk too much"

Tami pushed my hand away. "You know you love it when I talk"

"No, I sort of wish I had piece of really strong tape"

"You jerk!" She said, smacking me on my arm.

I playfully smacked her back. Then she flicked my head. So I poked her. Then she kicked me. And it was full-on war after that.

Tami tried to stand up and run away, but I pulled her back down with so much force, it sent us both rolling down a hill. I stopped us before we could fall into the lake's murky depths.

"Get off" she said, smiling.

"Why should I? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush you"

"Because...you love me?" she asked, shrugging.

I looked at her face, drinking up everything that was beautiful about it; her twinkling, green eyes, her smooth skin and full lips. I went back to her eyes; they were calling me in.

I eased myself down on top of her and pushed the hair out of her face.

And then I kissed her.

**xxx**

**Tami's POV**

When I felt Sirius' lips on mine, I probably should have pushed him off. I probably should have made any kind of protest.

Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to wrap his around my waist. And I kissed him back.

It was everything I hadn't felt with Ricky, and everything I wanted to feel for the rest of my life. Something inside me turned on and desire flooded through my body. I slipped my hands into his hair.

Eventually, we stopped and Sirius pushed himself to his feet and helped me up.

"Come on" he said, pulling me along behind him.

"Wait, Sirius" I pulled my handout of his grip and stopped walking. Sirius turnedaroud.

"What happened?" he asked.

I bit my lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. I was so confused.

"Ricky" I finally managed to say.

"Where?" Sirius asked, looking around wildly.

"No, I mean, I can't do this to him. He's my boyfriend, Sirius"

"But he doesn't care about you. Trust me, I know his type"

"He's not like you. He doesn't play every girl he meets"

"Is that the real problem? Listen to me" Sirius took my hands and pulled me closer to him. "I'm not playing you. I would never do that. You're not just any –"

I pulled away from him again. "Stop it!"

"So what, you're just going to pretend like we don't have anything? I can give you more than he can!"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"I can't betray him like this"

"You don't even have feelings for him"

"What? Yes I do! Of course I –"

"Oh sure, that's why you won't sleep with him"

I stared at Sirius, shocked. Then I turned around and started walking as far away from him as I possibly could. Sirius caught my arm and turned me back around.

"Tami, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that"

"No, you shouldn't have. I don't just sleep with anyone, but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings for Ricky"

"And you don't have feelings for me?"

I didn't know how to respond to that. It was true, Sirius and I did have chemistry; probably more than Ricky and I had, but I couldn't just change my mind.

"Forget it" Sirius said. "I'm not going to force you to choose. Do whatever makes you happy, okay? That's all I want"

Sirius let go of my wrist.

"Just don't be mad at me. I really am sorry"

I looked down at the ground, not sure what to say. I was angry, but was I angry at Sirius? And if not, who was I angry at?

"You're not mad, are you?" He asked, stepping closer and tilting my head up so I had no choice but to look at him.

"No" I said finally. He let me go and I took a step back. Then I turned again and walked away, not really sure if I was making the right choice.

**xxx**

**Sirius' POV**

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid –"

"Why are you kicking your bedpost?" James shouted over me as my three best friends walked in.

I wanted so badly to tell them what had happened, but I knew if I leaked the information to anyone; it would somehow find its way to the wrong people. And I hated lying to them. They were practically my brothers; or at least James was. Remus was a little too studious to be my brother. And Peter was just completely out of the question.

"I…uh…got extra detention. Can't make it to practice next week"

This wasn't actually a lie. I did have detention; it just wasn't such a big deal when it came to my opinion.

"You're joking! We have to talk to McGonagall about this! We need to practice as much as we can this week if we want to win the game against Ravenclaw!" James exclaimed, giving his own bedpost a good kick.

"We'll talk to McGonagall first thing on Monday. Who gave you the detention?"

"McGonagall" I answered, rolling my eyes. James made a face and Remus laughed.

"Good luck with that, James" Remus said.

I went into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I splashed my face with cold water and was in the middle of searching for a clean towel, when I heard Ricky's voice coming from the dormitory.

"Are you guys going to Hogsmede tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah, want to join?"

"Please no" I whispered to myself.

"I don't think so. I feel like I'm coming down with something"

That sentence sounded familiar. I stepped out of the restroom and looked at Ricky carefully.

"You look fine to me" I said. "What do you think, James?"

James gave me a confused look, but answered. "Uh, sure?"

"Remus? Peter?" I asked, waiting for their opinions.

Peter nodded in agreement, while Remus said "I guess so?" Then he gave me a questioning look.

"I think the fresh air would do you good, Ricky" I added, ignoring both James' and Remus' confused and worried glances at me.

"I guess I'll think about it" he replied, shrugging. "But I don't think I'll be able to make it"

"In that case, we should stay here and keep you company. You would probably get bored sitting in here by yourself"

"No" Ricky said quickly. A little too quickly, I noted in my mind. "It wouldn't feel right making you guys miss out on the fun just because of me"

"Okay then" I said, shrugging.

"I'm going down to dinner" Ricky said, and then he walked out, closing the dormitory door behind him.

"What was that about?" James asked. All three of them turned to look at me.

"He's lying; he doesn't feel sick. He just wanted to make sure no one would be here tomorrow"

"Why?"

I looked at the door, thinking hard. "I don't know, but he's planning something. Or he was. Maybe we scared him into not doing it"

"Doing what?" Remus asked. "Sirius, I think you're letting your feelings for Tami cloud your judgment"

"I know what I'm talking about. Like I haven't used the same excuse loads of times on you guys"

"Fine" Remus shrugged.

It was quiet for a few moments, while we all did our separate things.

"Wait a second" James said suddenly. He glared at me. "All those times you said you were sick, you were actually lying to me?"

I grinned. "Sorry, mate."

* * *

**The song this chapter's named for is fantastic :] if you like that rock/pop sort of thing.**

**Ever Fallen In Love - The Stiff Dylans**

**Anyone need references to good books ?  
****Check out my profile page for a link to my book review blog!**


	36. Guilty Pleasure

**'Guilty Pleasure'**

**Sirius' POV**

"He's definitely up to something" I said to Remus.

"I understand, Sirius. You've said that about a million times already"

"So what are we going to do about it?" James asked. "It's not like he'd tell us if we asked"

"Let's go back to the castle early. He won't even know we're coming"

"How early is early?"

"How about now?" I stood up from the table. "Come on"

"But I was waiting for Lily to come…"

I glared at James.

"Okay, fine!"

I walked out of the Three Broomsticks with James, Remus and Peter right behind me. When we reached the common room, it was empty. Everyone else was still in Hogsmede, enjoying the good weather. I shushed the three boys behind me and crept up the stairs as quietly as I could. I knew full well that even if I made noise, Ricky would still be trapped in his own web. It wasn't as if he'd be able to run away or hide. But I wanted to see the surprise on his face when he saw the door opening. I wanted to see the humiliation he'd feel when we all saw his secret.

I quietly laid my hand on the doorknob and counted. At three, I banged the door open and jumped into the room.

"Aha!"

"Sirius, there's no one in here"

I stepped back with disappointment. The room was completely empty, all five beds neatly made. I could feel the anger bubbling up inside of me.

"He's not here" James noted. "That means he lied"

"Of course he _lied_!" I snapped. "I thought we were over that already. Wasn't that the reason we snuck up here early?"

"Calm down, Sirius" Remus said, putting his hand on my arm. I shrugged it off and started pacing the room.

"But where did he go?"

"I don't know. Listen, let's just go downstairs. It's almost time for lunch anyway"

I shrugged, but I couldn't respond. I was too angry. I hated Ricky for lying and getting away with it, and I hated myself for being incapable of doing anything right.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, people were just beginning to enter the common room from outside. James immediately left our group to go hound after Lily.

I noticed Tami standing in the same group of girls. I approached her cautiously, unsure of how we were supposed to act around each other at this point. When Tami saw me, she gave me a small smile.

"Hi" I said, still unsure of whether she wanted to talk to me or not.

"Hi" she responded. I could tell things were awkward between us, and I hated it.

"Can we pretend like whatever happened never did?" I whispered to her.

She looked me in the eye, confused. "I thought we were already doing that"

"I guess we are, but that's for everyone else's sake. I mean, can we really pretend like it never happened, for the sake of our friendship?"

"This hasn't affected our friendship" she replied, a little defensive.

"Oh, it hasn't? Then why can't you look at me for more than one second?"

"I just…have a lot of things to think about right now. I'm sorry if I'm not as sociable as you expect me to be" she said, sarcastically.

"Now why are you getting mad?"

"I'm not getting mad!" she exclaimed, loud enough for others to hear.

"I'm sorry" I replied, rationally. "Hey, do you know where Ricky is?"

"He said he was feeling sick" she said, glad for the change in conversation. "Did you check the dormitory?"

"Yes, and he's not there"

I looked at Tami, waiting for the truth to register in her mind. She gave me a queer look, but didn't seem to comprehend.

"He's not up there" I repeated.

"Okay, so maybe he got hungry? Or maybe he needed to do something?"

"Needed to do something? I thought sick people usually tend to not do things because they're - oh, I don't know - sick?"

"What are you trying to imply?"

"I'm not trying to imply anything" I whispered, aware that people were starting to glance at us. I pulled Tami away from the crowd and continued, "I just think you're being too trusting of him"

"Why would I not trust him? He hasn't done anything to lose my trust"

"I don't know why he even has your trust in the first place. He's missing and you don't even care where he's gone? Shouldn't he have told you, or someone?"

"Sirius, stop it! Why are you always on his case? Why are you so jealous of him?"

"_Jealous_!" I said, laughing. "I would never be jealous of anyone like Ricky. That's like saying Lily will fall for James one day; it's obviously impossible!"

"Maybe one day she will!"

"Oh, please!" I exclaimed loudly.

"Oh, you - you just make me so mad sometimes!"

Tami turned to walk away from me, but I pulled her back by the arm. There was no one in the common room now; everyone had gone down for lunch. I trapped Tami against the wall and leaned in close to her.

"Let me go"

"If I was jealous of Ricky - and I'm not saying I am, so don't think that" I whispered. "But if I were, the reason would be because he has you and I don't"

Impulsively, I gave her a quick kiss. I looked at her beautiful, pale face and her vibrant green eyes. There was a frown on her face, disapproving of herself and her actions, but her eyes were calling me in again. I took all my willpower to let her go and when she was gone, I leaned my back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position.

Eventually, I got up and made my way upstairs. I slipped into bed and pulled the covers up. Maybe I would sleep in tomorrow; maybe I wouldn't have to go to class tomorrow. Maybe I wouldn't have to face the temptation for one day.

**xxx**

**Tami's POV**

Halfway down to the Great Hall, I paused, letting myself catch my breath and mull over everything that had happened in such a short time.

How could being alone in Sirius' presence feel so right and so wrong at the same time? I didn't want to do this to Ricky! I didn't want to hurt him. But I couldn't deny the fact that there was something in Sirius I couldn't resist.

There were also a lot of things I couldn't stand. For example, how easily he seemed to get jealous, or the fact that he didn't know how to control himself? And he was always up to something! He was childish, stubborn, impulsive, naïve, guiltless. He didn't care about anyone else's feelings; just as long as he got what he wanted.

And when he looked at me with those eyes…

"God!" I shouted, kicking at nothing.

I decided not to think about him any more tonight. I would deal with this in the morning; I would deal with him in the morning.

When I reached the Great Hall, I sought out Lily.

"Where have you been?" she asked. She slid her bag off the bench to let me sit.

"Thanks for saving me a seat"

When I didn't continue, she nudged me with her elbow. "Well? The last I saw you, you were with Sirius"

I opened my mouth to answer, but got cut short by Ricky.

"What about Sirius?" he asked, sitting across from me.

"Nothing" I replied quickly. "Where were you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you weren't in the dormitory when we came back" I replied, leaving Sirius out of the conversation.

"You went looking for me?" he asked, as if reading my mind.

"Yes" I lied.

"I was just - taking a quick walk. It's not like I could spend all day cooped up in the same room"

"Oh really? And I see the walking has done you good. You don't seem sick anymore"

"I still have some side effects left over…" he said slowly.

I watched Ricky carefully, but he didn't hold my gaze. He began to pile food on his plate, but once it was there, he didn't eat it. He pushed it around in his plate, trying to keep me from seeing his expression. He's trying to keep something from me, I realized with shock.

"Oh god" I said, gravely. "You're lying!"

"What? No!"

"Yes, you are! It's all over your face!"

"What is?"

"The guilt!" I shouted. I stood up from the table. "The least you could do is tell me the truth"

"But I am -"

"Oh, don't bother!"

I stormed out of the Great Hall, not really heading for a destination. Finally, after walking all over the castle, I decided to go out on the Quiditch field.

As I threw the ball with all my strength into the goalposts, I imagined his face right in front of it. I even went so far as to imagine the disfigurement it would cause. I hated him. I really did.

"That's what you get, you insolent - stupid - idiot! I _hate_ you, Sirius Black!"


	37. If You Only Knew

**'If You Only Knew'**

**Tami's POV**

"Are we going to talk about this?"

"Talk about what?"

"Tami"

"There's nothing to talk about"

"Yes there is, you're avoiding me"

"I'm not avoiding you"

"Tami!"

"_What?_" I snapped, putting my book down and glaring at Ricky.

"What's wrong with you these days? You seem ready to bite everyone's head off"

"There's nothing wrong with me. I just don't feel like talking"

"Not even to me?"

_Especially not to you._

"You lied to me"

"I know I lied to you, but I can explain -"

"I'd rather not hear about what you've been hiding from me. What is it; another girl?"

Ricky stared at me, shocked. Then he collected himself and I watched as his eyes hardened.

"I can't believe you'd say that" he replied. "Your birthday's coming up. I just wanted to surprise you"

He threw a wrapped box into my lap. He got up and left before I could even move.

I picked up the box and looked at it closely. It was obviously a jewelry box; I shook it and heard something shift easily. I slipped the ribbon off and opened the box.

**xxx**

"Oh my god, it's so beautiful" Lily exclaimed, looking at the locket around my neck. "Is this the gift Ricky got you?"

Startled, I looked at Lily. "You knew he was going to get me a gift?"

"Yes, but before you get mad at me, he made me promise not to tell you about it"

"But you should have anyway! I - I exploded in his face! I called him a cheater -"

"You accused him of cheating?"

"Yes" I said, guiltily. "But I'm the one who deserves to be shouted at"

"Why? You made a mistake. Just apologize to him and I'm sure everything will be fine"

I didn't answer, but let Lily get up from my bed. Before she could go into the bathroom to change, I called her back.

"I did something bad, Lily"

"What do you mean?"

"I kissed Sirius" I blurted. I waited for her to scold me, to tell me how bad I was and how I didn't deserve to have someone like Ricky.

"Is that a joke?"

"No" I replied, keeping my head down.

"You - wait - _Sirius_?"

I nodded.

"Tami!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry -"

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me!" Lily said, sitting on my bed again.

"I can't tell Ricky, and you can't either. You have to promise!"

"Well, it was only once right?"

"No…"

"_More than once_?"

"There's something about him -"

"Sirius doesn't commit, Tami. He won't care about you longer than a week, maybe a month tops"

"I don't think it's like that this time"

"It's _always_ like that. Do you realize who you're talking about?"

I shook my head, but didn't argue any further. "It doesn't matter anyway; how can I leave Ricky now? Just don't tell him about this! Do you promise?"

"I promise, but just remember - Sirius is a waste of time"

* * *

**Sirius' POV**

I didn't see Tami for the rest of the day. It almost seemed like she was avoiding me, but that seemed ridiculous. Why would she avoid me? I hadn't done anything to deserve that…

…right?

"Sirius, it's your move"

I woke up from my thinking and tried to concentrate on the game board in front of me. I was the king at wizard's chess, and I wasn't about to let James beat me.

"Sirius, I need to talk to you"

I looked up from the game, to see Lily Evans standing a few feet away. She was pointedly ignoring James and the stupid grin he got whenever she was around.

"Hey, Evans"

"Leave me alone, Potter"

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need to talk to you, _alone_"

"What's the big secret, Evans? You can say whatever you want to say in front of my mates" I said, turning back to the game. Anything Lily said wasn't really meant to be taken seriously. She probably just wanted to lecture me on something or the other.

"It's private, Sirius. It's about Tami"

"We know all about Tami" James said. "Are you going to tell Sirius to back off?"

"That's none of your business, so can you keep your mouth shut, Potter?"

"I know you just pretend to hate me to hide your true feelings. Why can't you just accept the fact that you're in love with me?"

"Because I'm not! Sirius?"

"Oh god, all right" I stood up and followed Lily to a corner. "What do you want?"

"I know about what happened between you and Tami. It has to stop, Sirius. She's with Ricky"

"Ricky doesn't care about her -"

"Yes, he does. So stop trying to ruin them"

"She doesn't belong with Ricky, and you'll realize that eventually. He's all wrong for her"

"He's a good influence on her, unlike you"

"Just because she's a goody-two-shoes now, like you? Did it ever occur to you that that could be another name for _boring_?"

Lily crossed her arms and glared at me.

"I'm not kidding, Sirius. Stay away from Tami. You're just going to mess her up. We all know you can't like a girl for more than a week, so why do you want to ruin her? I thought you cared for her as a friend, at least -"

"This is different, Evans. She does matter to me - and as more than a friend. Nothing you do or say will make me forget her, so don't waste your time"

"I'm sure you say that to yourself all the time, but isn't it always the same? You can't commit Sirius, all because of one girl, one incident -"

"Don't you dare -"

"All because of Alice"

I glared at Lily until I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't look at her face after what she said. How could she bring up Alice? Didn't she know how much I hated that girl?

Of course she did. And that's exactly why she wanted to mention _her_.

"Are you just trying to make me angry, Evans?"

"Tami's not going to be played like a game, Sirius. That's all I'm saying"

I watched until Lily disappeared up the dormitory staircase, then I went back to James and the others.

"What was all that about?"

"She wants me to back off"

"I knew it!" James exclaimed, slapping his fist on the table, causing the chess pieces to fly off everywhere.

"She's right, Sirius. You _should_ back off…you're just going to end up hurting a lot of people, including Tami and yourself"

"I can't just back off, Remus. I can't stay away from her; it's too hard now"

"You've done it before"

"I didn't realize it then…"

"Realize what?"

"Just…things"

_Just that I loved her._


	38. Stuck In The Middle

**Stuck In The Middle**

**Tami's POV**

"Lily –"

"I can't talk to you right now"

"I know, you're busy with finals and everything but –"

"No, Tami, what you're doing is wrong. You can't keep this a secret anymore. You have to tell him, and until you do, I can't talk to you"

I could feel my anger level rising, but I couldn't tell whether I was angry at myself or at her. Lily was partly right; Ricky deserved to know the truth, but it wasn't something I could easily do.

"Why can't you understand?"

"Understand what? That you're cheating on your boyfriend and you're keeping it a secret, and not only that – oh no – you're also making me lie for you?"

"I'm not asking you to lie for me. I'm not even cheating on him!" I exclaimed in a whisper. I looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"No, you're right. But you have cheated on him, and by forcing me to keep quiet you're making me lie. Just let me know when it's safe to tell the truth"

Lily pushed past me and walked out of the library. I watched her until she had turned the corner, wishing that it was as easy as she wanted it to be; as easy as I wanted it to be.

**xxx**

**Sirius' POV**

Lily was obviously very mad. Normally, she didn't talk to me very much. Probably because of James and his – uh, infatuation, for a better word, but lately. Lately she wasn't speaking to me at all. She wouldn't even look at me.

It wouldn't have bothered me if she hadn't been doing the same thing to Tami, her very own best friend. It was easy to deal with Lily being mad at me; it wasn't exactly something new. But I couldn't just sit back and watch her be mad at someone who didn't deserve the anger.

"I need to talk to you"

Lily continued to read her book, even when I sat down beside her and started poking her. I could see that bothering her wasn't going to work, so I stopped.

"Lily" I tried again.

This time she looked at me, a little surprised.

"What?" I asked.

"You've never called me Lily before" she replied, placing the book slowly down into her lap.

"I haven't?"

Strange, I had never really noticed that.

"You've always called me Evans, like James does"

"I guess it's because I've always just seen you the way James sees you"

Lily raised her eyebrows at me.

"No – I mean, - I don't… like you that way"

"I know" she replied. "I wasn't aware that you liked me at all"

"Well, you have your annoying moments… pretty much all the time"

"Funny"

I gave her a cocky smile and continued. "I want to talk to you about Tami"

Lily's face grew cold and solemn. She stood up and began walking away.

I jumped up and trailed behind her. "All I wanted to say was to stop being mad at her. It's not her fault"

"Yes, I know it's not her fault. It's your fault, Sirius! You're the reason all of this is happening!" Lily shouted back.

"I know, okay? Don't you think I know? But this isn't what you think. I'm telling you. I care about Tami, as in I really care about Tami. I can't just let her walk away. This is the first… it's the first time in a long time, Lily, that I've actually cared about someone who wasn't a Marauder and it –"

I took a deep breath, shocked at my own boldness. Lily had turned and was watching me with weary, but hopefully convinced eyes.

"That doesn't change anything, Sirius. Ricky cares about her, too"

"Oh, please"

"He does! How can you think that he doesn't?"

"Because I know how people like him think. I know what he's really thinking and what he's really feeling because I used to be that guy"

"He's lasted longer than you ever did in a relationship. Don't you think that's says something? And you can't just know someone by looking at them. You know nothing about him"

"And what do you know? What does Tami know? What do any of us know about him, Lily? For all we know, he could be an undercover Slytherin or something!" I shouted, exasperated with Lily and her feeble arguments.

"Do you hear yourself when you talk? You're not making any sense; 'undercover Slytherin'? Your jealousy is making you insane!"

"I am not jealous"

"Yes you are, Sirius. And it's clouding your judgment. For all I know, maybe you really do care about Tami. I don't know, but I know for sure that Ricky cares, and that's all that matters to me right now"

I breathed in and calmed myself down.

"I didn't want to get into a fight about this. I just want you to give Tami a little break. I know you hate it and I know you hate me, but Tami has feelings for me, too. And as long as that's the truth, I'm not giving up."

Boyfriend or not

**xxx**

**Tami's POV**

I sat in the dormitory, quickly doing the reading for tomorrow's potions homework. I was never good at Potions. It had always been Lily who helped me out.

"And if she was here, I wouldn't have to read all of this" I snapped. I closed the book and attempted to rub the tiredness out of my eyes.

Why was everything going so wrong?

"It's a new potion we're supposed to try tomorrow. It requires a little of specific ingredients and instructions, so Professor Slughorn wanted us to do this reading. I can help you tomorrow, if you want"

I opened my eyes to see Lily standing in the doorway.

"Tami, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. I don't know what you're going through and I don't know how to fix it, but I shouldn't have been shunning you because of it. You need me right now"

"I do" I whispered, feeling the tears slowly crawling down my cheeks. "It's so hard, you have no idea. I thought this would be the easiest part of life; so it easy, it would be a joke. I've had boyfriends before, but… both of them are so perfect"

"I never thought I'd hear someone call Sirius perfect and mean it"

I laughed and let Lily hug me. "Ricky's treated me so well, and I can't bear the idea of hurting him. But Sirius –"

"Is Sirius" Lily finished for me. "I know the temptation, trust me. And I think… I think he might really be sincere this time. It's hard to believe, but I think he really likes you"

"You've talked to him?" Lily let go of me and gave me a confused look.

"Haven't you?"

"No, I've been avoiding him."

"Why?"

"I can't deal with all of this"

"Oh Tami, you have to deal with it sometime. Avoiding him is not going to fix anything. I don't think he's going to give up on you"

"Ugh" I put my face in my hands. "I wish this could be easier. I wish I hadn't kissed Sirius, I wish I didn't like him so much, and I wish –"

"So the rumors are true then"

I looked up and saw Marlene standing in the doorway now.

"You and Sirius, huh? I can't say I never saw it coming."

"Go away, Marlene" Lily growled, standing up and glaring.

"Oh please, don't get up on my account. I just wanted to thank Tami"

"For what?" I asked.

"For giving me Ricky all to myself" Marlene sneered.

"I won't let you tell him" Lily snapped.

"There's nothing you can do to stop me. But if it makes you feel any better, Tami, at least you're not the only guilty one in this relationship"

Marlene turned and walked out of the room. I turned to look at Lily right when Lily turned to look at me.

"What did she –"

"Never mind her, Tami; she was just talking nonsense"

"I don't think so, Lily. There's something definitely wrong here"


	39. Fall For You

**'Fall For You**'

**Tami's POV**

"Ricky!" I called out, squeezing my way through the throng of students in the hallway. When I reached Ricky, it was to find him standing on the side, waiting for me.

"I know about Sirius"

"What?" I asked, confused. "What do you know about Sirius?"

"I know you've been with him"

"Oh god... Marlene told you, didn't she?" I replied, biting my lip.

"Yes, she did" Ricky said quietly. "But she didn't have to. It was clear from the beginning that you were in love with Sirius"

"I'm not in love with S –"

"Tami, just give it up!" he exclaimed, giving me an exasperated look. "How much longer are you going to deny this?"

"I don't – I don't know" I said. Was I in love with Sirius? I knew I liked him – I liked him a lot, but loved him? In love with him? Wasn't that going too far? Or maybe it wasn't?

"Ricky, I am so sorry –"

"It's okay... I haven't been completely faithful to you either. That's the only reason why I'm not upset"

"You were with Marlene" I said, not even thinking twice about it. Of course, Marlene would go after Ricky; especially after he had humiliated her that first day. The day he had asked me to go out with him.

"Here" I pulled the necklace off my neck and handed it back to him. "I can't keep this. Maybe you should give it to Marlene?"

"No, you should keep it. Marlene didn't mean anything to me, not the way you do. And I'm going to stop seeing her, but I would be a bad friend if I kept you away from someone who you're obviously meant to be with"

"Ricky –"

"I'm going to be late. You know how McGonagall is about tardiness" Ricky gave me a small smile. I nodded and watched him disappear back into the crowds.

* * *

**Sirius' POV**

"Well, you don't look happy" James said, sitting down next to me. It was yet another victory for the Gryffindor Quiditch team, but that didn't mean much to me. Not at the moment.

"Why would I be happy?" I asked, slightly tipsy. "This butterbeer is good"

"Sirius, that's not butterbeer" Remus commented, looking at me strangely.

"Tami and Ricky are over, mate! It's time for you to step in and claim your prize"

"She's avoiding me" I said, sourly. "I don't know why. I don't know what I did, but James – she's avoiding me"

"Sirius, she's –"

"Avoiding me!" I shouted before James could finish his sentence.

"Come on, Remus. Let's just go" I watched as James and Remus walked away. I was all alone again; all alone in a room full of strangers.

"Hi, Sirius"

I looked up to see Tami smiling down at me. She looked more beautiful than ever, in all black. Her hair was open and fell over her shoulders like a black fountain of…blackness.

I couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

**Tami's POV**

"Tami?" he asked. "There are three of you"

I sighed and pulled the bottle out of his hand. I placed it on the table and then I sat down next to him.

"I was hoping we could talk, but uh... you're not exactly in the right shape to have a conversation"

"Why? Why? I can talk" he slurred.

I shook my head, but I couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto my face. "I know I've sort of been avoiding you the past few weeks –"

"You didn't want to talk to me"

"No, Sirius, I did…I just didn't know how"

"You don't know how to talk? Then what are you doing now?"

I sighed. "This is pointless; I'll talk to you tomorrow morning, when you can actually comprehend what I'm saying"

I stood up and prepared to leave.

"No no, wait! Don't leave" Sirius caught hold of my arm and pulled me back down.

I almost fell on top of him, but landed on the couch right next to him, his arms around me.

"I'm sorry – I'm sorry, I wish I could be better for you. I wish I could be like Ri –"

"No," I cut him off. "No, absolutely not...I want you the way you are, Sirius. Stupid, impulsive, drunk at the moment" I laughed.

"You want me…?"

I looked at him, his face softened by the drink. He was vulnerable right now; vulnerable and innocent. I leaned down and kissed him, softly.

I don't know how long it was before I picked my head up from Sirius' chest. We were still sitting the couch; we had sat there all night. But now Sirius was asleep, and I was tired. I extracted myself from him as carefully as possible. Before I left to go upstairs, I looked down at him. I pushed the hair out of his face and kissed him one last time.

"I… I love –"

I took a deep breath.

"Goodnight, Sirius"

* * *

**Sirius' POV**

The afternoon sun was shining in through the window when I woke up. The common room was completely empty; probably due to the fact that everyone was in class. It was rather strange, though, that no one had bothered to wake me up before. Had everyone really just pretended like I wasn't there?

The second I tried to move, my head exploded in pain.

"Bloody hell! Why did I drink so much last night?"

Except I didn't actually remember doing the drinking, which made the whole situation even more ridiculous. I remembered that we had won the Quiditch game and I remembered coming up to the party, but after that, everything seemed blurry.

Suddenly, the common room door opened. "Well, look who's awake"

"How's the hangover, Sirius?" Remus asked, smirking.

"It's fantastic, Moony. I'm having the time of my life right now"

"It always sucks afterwards. But what happened last night, mate? Did you and Tami… you know…"

James, Remus and Peter watched me expectantly, but I wasn't sure what they wanted me to say. I hadn't talked to Tami for weeks. They knew that.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking between the three of them. "You know I haven't talked to her in a long time"

"Well, you don't have to get all dramatic now. It's only been a few hours"

"It's only been a few hours since _what_?"

"Since you've talked to Tami!"

"What are you – I haven't talked to Tami in a month!" I repeated, confused. Why didn't James understand? Why didn't he remember?

"What are _you_ talking about?" James exclaimed.

'Sirius, you were talking to her last night. You two were on the couch and you were talking. And then you were kissing" Remus said.

"What? No I wasn't!"

"Don't tell me you don't remember" James said.

"I don't know. How can I be sure that you're telling me the truth?" I asked rationally.

"Well, Remus wouldn't go along with a joke like this" James replied.

"That's true, I wouldn't"

"But…nothing else happened, right?"

"I was hoping you would know"

We were all quiet for a moment. Then I spoke again; something wasn't right about this picture.

"Why didn't any of you wake me up?" I asked suspiciously.

"Umm..."

"James drew on your face" Remus said simply. "And he made me swear I wouldn't wake you up"

"What?" I jumped up and ran to my dormitory. When I glanced in my mirror, I found a horribly drawn mustache and –

"My eyebrows!"

Downstairs, I heard James and Peter cracking up. Remus was too nice to laugh out loud, but I knew he was finding this amusing, too.

"I'm going to kill you guys!" I shouted again. That only led to more laughter.

"How am I supposed to talk to Tami when I look like _this_?"

The laughing stopped for a moment. "Oh, I didn't think of that" James said.

"No, obviously not"


	40. Amateur Lovers

**'Amateur Lovers'**

**Sirius' POV:  
**

"Are you nervous?"

"No"

"Are you sure? I mean, this is the first time you're ever going to ask out a girl you actually care about"

"I'm sure, James"

"Not that she won't say yes. Obviously she will, since she kissed you. But imagine she says no. Or you can't get the words out and end up embarrassing yourself beyond belief and –"

"James, stop!"

I watched Tami from the doorway of the Great Hall. James was standing right behind me.

"So, are you nervous now?"

"I really hate you"

**xxx**

"Hi girls"

Lily grinned at Tami and then got up from the table. I took her seat and smiled warily at Tami.

"You have no recollection of last night, do you?" she asked.

"No, I really don't" I admitted. "Nothing, uh, _happened_, right?"

Tami snorted. "Nothing happened"

"Okay" I could feel myself starting to breathe again.

"You seem relieved about that"

"Well, I – um – I didn't want something important to happen between us when I can't even remember it"

"Right"

I looked down at the table. Tami took a sip from her water glass.

"So, um, I was going to ask you something"

"Really"

"Yes…it's, um…"

"Sirius, it's just me. Spit it out"

I looked up at her face, feeling ridiculous. Why was it so hard for me to say this? Her eyes were bright and hopeful and the small smile on her lips was enough to light up the whole room. She already knew what I was going to ask.

"Go out with me" I replied, not even bothering to word it into a question.

The tiniest flush of color filled her pale cheeks. Her smile grew wider. Beautiful

"When?" she asked

"Tomorrow night. Meet me in the common room"

"I'll be there"

**xxx**

"Where do I take her? What are we supposed to do on our date?"

"You're acting like you've never gone out with a girl before" Remus replied, rolling his eyes. "Just do what you always do"

"I can't do what I always do. This isn't just any girl, Remus! It's Tami… its different"

"So, what? You want to do something special for her?" James asked.

I nodded. Why was thinking of something so hard?

"Why don't you take her up to the astronomy tower and have a table up there set for dinner? With lit candles, violin's playing; all that bit"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, and risk losing her for all eternity. I said I wanted to do something special, not scare her away with my intensity"

"It's a good idea, right guys?" James exclaimed, turning to Remus – who just looked back down at the book he was reading. Peter agreed in his squeaky voice, but that didn't mean much to James.

"Fine then, let's get a girl's opinion. Hey Evans!"

Lily appeared behind me. "What is it, Potter? I'm not going on a date with you"

"I wasn't even going to ask. Not this time anyway, but since you've brought it up –"

"No!" Lily shouted, the same time I did, "James!"

"All right, I get it. I called you over, Evans, because Sirius here needs some help with his date planning. I proposed that he take Tami to the astronomy tower and so some romantic junk –"

"Romantic junk?" she asked, exasperated. "Way to make it sound appealing. No wonder Sirius doesn't like the idea"

"What I meant was that he take her to astronomy tower, with a dinner table set with candles and such"

"I'll give her a bloody heart attack with that idea!"

"No you won't" James argued. "What do you say, Evans?"

"Honestly…" Lily hesitated.

"She hates it" I snapped.

"No, honestly, I think it's brilliant"

"What?" both James and I looked at Lily in shock.

"Really, I think it's a good idea. You should do it, Sirius. Tami would love it"

I was too shocked to respond. Lily and James were finally agreeing on something, for the first time in history.

**Tami's POV:**

"I can't believe you're actually going to do this" Lily said from behind me. She was supposed to be working on her potions essay, but was watching me get ready instead.

"Oh, let it go, Lily" I replied to her reflection in the mirror.

"But this is Sirius! I never thought you and him…"

"It's not that big of a deal"

"_Really_?"

I turned around to face her and bit my lip, thinking. "I don't know… _is _it a big deal?"

"I think so"

I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. "Oh god" I put my face in my hands. "I feel like such a _girl_ right now"

"That's not a bad thing"

"No, it is" I turned back to the mirror. "I'm not supposed to be this way. How did this happen?"

Lily shrugged.

"I think maybe I became like this after dating Ricky, you know? Being with him was always about presentation. I couldn't really be myself around him. But with Sirius, it's totally different. I'm more comfortable with him that with anyone else… I want it to stay that way"

"So you don't want anything fancy on your first date?"

"Oh god, no! I want it to be something special, but I don't want anything crazy. Anyway, I've got to go. It's already ten past six!"

I turned quickly, grabbed my cloak and darted out the door, calling a quick "see you after" to Lily.

When I reached the common room, it was to find Sirius pacing back and forth like there was no tomorrow. He seemed more distressed than I had ever seen him.

His head snapped up as I stepped on a creaky stair.

"Didn't mean to scare you?" I asked.

"I wasn't scared" he replied. "Just uh –"

"Scared" I finished for him.

He looked up at me and smirked. "Just follow me and keep your mouth shut"

"Make me" I replied, smiling back.

**xxx**

"Where are we going?" I asked, as I followed Sirius through doorways and up staircases.

"Don't you recognize the way? We're headed to the astronomy tower"

"Why?"

"Right, because I'm going to ruin the surprise just cause you asked me to"

"If I add a please to that, will you spill the beans?" she asked sweetly.

"Absolutely not"

"Fine" she crossed her arms over her chest. "Have it your way"

"We're here anyway"

I followed Sirius up the winding staircase leading to the astronomy tower. When we reached the platform, he instructed me to close my eyes. I closed them and he pulled me forward by my hand. The cold, night air blasted into my face. Suddenly, music began; soft, melodious notes that ran shivers down my spine.

"Open your eyes" he whispered.

I opened them and saw a dimly lit scene. Right in the middle of the platform of the tower was a round, red table-clothed table with two burning candles in the center. Standing a little off to the side were floating instruments, strumming the soft notes.

I wasn't sure what to say. One look at everything left me speechless. I let Sirius lead me to the table. He pulled a chair out for me and I sat down, still looking around. Then he came around and sat across from me.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I… it's… it's beautiful" I pulled myself together and forced a smile on to myself.

Sirius fell for my fake appreciation and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the plates on the table filled themselves with food. The glasses filled themselves with wine.

"I wanted to do something special for our first date, Tami"

I nodded, still unable to stream words together into a proper sentence.

This wasn't what I wanted at all.

* * *

**I'm sorry it's so short! I have a plan, though, I swear. I've just been so busy. :|**

**Amateur Lovers - Switchfoot.**

**Gotta love the Switchfoot...**


	41. Into Your Arms

**'Into Your Arms'**

**Sirius' POV**

The rest of the dinner was spent in silence. I couldn't understand what was going on, but from years of practice - I knew staying quiet was the best option. Eventually, Tami would talk to me.

After making the table disappear from the tower, we began to sneak our way back to the Gryffindor common room.

I suppose I wasn't paying enough attention to being stealthy, because suddenly I had a face full of green goo. From what I could smell, it was probably paint.

I stood up straight, forgetting that we were supposed to be acting stealthy, and wiped as much of the paint off that I could.

"Oh my god" Tami said, turning around when she realized I was no longer following her.

There was an idiotic cackle and I watched as another splatter of red paint hit the side of Tami's head.

"It's Peeves" I whispered to her.

"I realized" she hissed back.

"Well, look-y here. Look what's been roaming around the castles at night"

"Should've taken the damn cloak" I whispered.

"No kidding"

"Ah, keeping secrets too, now. Are we?"

Neither of us said anything. We were both unsure of what to do exactly anyway. Attacking him would only make him mad, and if Peeves got mad...well, there would be no hope of making it back without being caught.

"Students shouldn't be out of bed. Peevsie might have to do something about it"

"No, Peeves. Please." Tami pleaded, stepping forward. "We're going back right now, see? Let's just all pretend like this never happened"

Peeves floated around us in circles for what felt like the longest time. Both of us were keeping our eye on him, waiting to see what he would do.

He finally flipped upside down and stopped right in front of us.

"Tell you what," he said. "Peevsie will give you a ten second head start"

"Peeves -" Tami said, about to try and reason with him again.

"Ten" he whispered, ignoring her.

"Go" I pushed Tami lightly in the back. We started making our way again.

"Nine" he whispered loudly down the hall, so we could hear.

His voice followed us as we rushed as quietly as we possibly could.

"Four" he said, pulling out the 'r' sound, making him sound like an annoying cat.

We were just a few minutes away from the common room now.

"Three"

We reached the staircases that would lead us directly to the common room doorway.

"Two" Peeves voice echoed through the castle.

"We have to just go" I whispered to Tami.

"If we make any noise, someone will find us" she replied.

"If we don't hurry, Peeves will out us"

"We can't risk it -"

"We have to" I snapped.

"One"

"GO!" I snapped, running up the stairs. Tami was close on my heels. Then suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the area.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED" Peeves screeched.

I threw out some of the best profanities I knew, and pushed myself to go faster up the stairs.

There was a sound of a door crashing open downstairs, but it didn't matter. We were at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

I poked the portrait until the Fat Lady opened her eyes. Before she could say anything, I spit out the password and the portrait swung open. We ran in, letting the door swing shut behind us.

**Tami's POV**

We were out of breath and I was beyond ready to just collapse on one of the common room chairs. I was almost there when Sirius pulled me away.

"Come on" he said, leading me towards the dormitory staircase.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"McGonagall is going to come in here and check" he replied.

I followed him up the staircase and into his dormitory. He closed the door softly and we both leaned in to listen better.

The common room door swung open once again, and someone stepped in. After a few moments - which were probably spent searching - McGonagall left.

I let out a breath that I hadn't even noticed I'd been holding in. Sirius looked at me and we both ended up smiling. Then we were siffling our laughter, so no one would wake up. Unfortunately, that was a wasted effort.

"Hey guys" James said, sitting up in bed. "You're back from your date"

It was easy to see that James wasn't fully awake yet.

"Go back to sleep, James" Sirius said, smiling widely.

I couldn't help but laugh again.

"I should probably go" I whispered to Sirius. He looked at me and nodded.

"We have to talk, though" he said. "About tonight"

"I'll see you in the morning"

I slipped out of Sirius' dormitory and made my way silently into mine. After making sure I hadn't woken anyone up, I fell quite ungracefully into my own bed; not bothering to change at all.

* * *

"You know," I heard Lily say. "It's going to take a hell of a lot of work to get those wrinkles out of your dress"

I groaned and pulled my pillow over my face.

"You have to get up and tell me about last night!" Lily insisted, pulling the pillow away from my head.

I sat up in my bed and looked at her.

"It was horrible" I whispered. "He had a whole dinner spread set up and it was on the astronomy tower and he was all dressed up. I was undoubtedly underdressed for it" I finished, looking down at my now crumpled dress.

Lily looked at me in shock. "You didn't like it?"

"I don't know" I said. "It wasn't really - "

Then suddenly, I realized something. I sat up straight and looked Lily in the eye.

"You knew about it?" I asked. The expression on Lily's face was enough of an answer. "You knew and you didn't warn me!" I exclaimed.

"I didn't think you would be so unsatisfied" she replied quickly. "James and Sirius were discussing it and I may have told them it was a good idea. In my defense, I thought you would like it"

I fell back onto the bed and put my hands over my eyes. "Are you out of your mind? It was so… unlike our relationship. Honestly, the only fun part was when Peeves found us on our way back"

"Peeves found you? Oh god, what happened? Did you get caught?"

"No," I said, dropping my arms to my side. "but we were about to be. We just barely made it to safety"

"Lord" Lily replied. "I mean, I know it was dangerous and all - being outside of the dormitory - but I didn't realize what could have happened. I shouldn't have egged them on with this idea"

I smiled. "Actually, it was pretty funny."

Lily shook her head. "Anyway, Sirius is downstairs. He said something about wanting to see you"

"I have to explain to him what happened last night. I was giving him the cold shoulder most of the time" I admitted.

I quickly took a shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I was downstairs in less than fifteen minutes, and Sirius was sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for me.

"Hi" I said, approaching him.

He looked up at me and smiled. I sat in the chair next to his.

"So" he said. "What happened?"

I took a minute to find the right words. "What you did last night was amazing," I said. "Any girl would have loved that. Honestly, no one has ever gone to so much trouble just to please me"

Sirius looked confused. "Then why did you seem so upset?"

"Because I - I don't know. It wasn't really us. Or what we're about"

"What are you talking about?"

"We're not the fancy-dinner, dressing-up types. At least, that's what I thought"

Sirius sighed and closed his eyes. "I just wanted our first date to be special"

"It was" I said. "Only, not when we were sitting at some posh table, eating a fancy dinner"

"What, do you mean when we were running for our lives?"

"That was pretty funny" I said, smiling at him. He looked at me and smiled, too.

"I swear, I thought we were done for"

"But then we made it"

"And you almost blew it" he accused. "If I hadn't pulled you out of sight, McGonagall would have murdered us"

"I know. Good thing you're so smart" I teased.

Sirius stood up and pulled me into a hug.

"So no more fancy dates?" he asked.

"No, just you and me"

* * *

**Thanks to all the people who added this story or this author to their favorites. And especially those who wrote reviews. Even though I hadn't updated in months. It means a lot to me that you read my story. :]**

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